Beauty Pageants
by Rochelleteentitan
Summary: AU. Years of beauty pageants had taught her how to perfectly fake a smile, how to tell people exactly what they want to hear. So how was he supposed to be able to get through to her when she was always ready with some fake beauty pageant answer? IchiHime
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Has anyone else ever seen that show 'Toddlers and Tiaras' about beauty pageants on TLC? I'm sure they purposefully pick the craziest stage moms but still, it is pretty disgusting. But it also served as the inspiration for this fic. This is my first multi chapter story in a while so I guess we'll see how it goes.

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or any of the characters.

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When Ichigo had first met Orihime, they had both been 8 years old. Even though their meeting seemed pretty insignificant at the time, the fact that he remembered her immediately as soon as she walked onto the auditorium stage indicated that maybe she'd made more of an impression on him than he had thought.

He unconsciously found himself straightening up from his slouched position in his seat as he started to watch the pageant rehearsal with much more interest than he had been just 30 seconds prior.

"Look at the rack on that one!" Ichigo didn't need to look at Keigo, who was sitting on his right, to see which one he was referring to. Keigo sighed dreamily as he leaned forward to rest his chin in his hand. "I think I'm in love." Ichigo resisted his urge to punch Keigo in the face.

Chad, sitting to Ichigo's left, rose an eyebrow at Keigo's statement. "I thought you liked Rukia."

"I do. But you have to keep your options open. I can't be tied down to Rukia when so many girls want me."

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "So what you mean is you basically have to hit on every girl you see on the off chance that one might actually like you." Ichigo retorted.

Large comical tears rolled down Keigo's face as he pointed an accusing finger at Ichigo. "Why are you always trying to hurt me? Aren't we friends? First, you start hanging out with Chad, Ishida, Rukia, and Renji more than me and now you are insulting me? You're the worst friend ever!"

Keigo kept talking, but Ichigo ignored the rest of his rant and returned his attention to Orihime. She was standing in a line with the rest of the contestants as the rehearsal dragged on. The pageant director, Mayuri Kurotsuchi, was giving the girls instructions on how the show opening would go as his daughter Nemu stood silently beside him with a clipboard. Ichigo couldn't help but let his eyes roam over her. He wasn't worried about her catching him staring because he and his friends were sitting in the back of the auditorium and the lights weren't on. Even dressed in casual clothes, ripped jeans and a white tank top, he found himself totally enamored with her. Even as an 8 year old boy who thought girls had cooties, he had known that she was pretty, but now at 16, she was stunningly beautiful. Her long dark orange hair was silky and he really wished he could comb his fingers through it to see if it was as soft as it looked. She had curves in all the right places and she seemed to have perfect bone structure. She had definently changed a lot from the 8 year old girl he had known, but the one feature that jumped out at him, the feature that had allowed him to recognize her in the first place, were her grey eyes. She had the same expression in her eyes she had had when they first met. Trapped.

_*********************flashback************************_

"_Why do I have to be here?" Ichigo sulked as he dragged his feet from the parking lot to the hotel where the Little Miss Karakura pageant would be held. _

_Masaki laughed and shifted Yuzu so she could hold her with one arm and offered her right hand to Ichigo. He gladly accepted the offered hand and fell into step with the rest of the family. "Don't you want to support your little sister Ichigo? Besides, it could be a lot of fun. Keigo will be here. His big sister is competing in the pageant too." Masaki said. _

_Isshin, who carried Karin piggy back style, smirked at Ichigo. "What are you complaining about son? I bet there will be plenty of cute girls your age here. You could find yourself a little girlfriend!" _

_Ichigo pretended to gag. "Gross. Girls have cooties."_

"_No we don't!" Karin retorted angrily just as the family reached the entrance to the hotel._

_The hotel lobby was full of little girls in glitzy dresses. Some had full on make-up, spray tans, and big hair, while others had opted for a more natural look. Despite how grown up some of the girls looked; it was obvious that they were still children from the way they all ran throughout the lobby playing hide and go seek and tag. Ichigo was surprised to see that some of the girls had coaches and professional hair and make-up. It made him somewhat uneasy._

_Apparently, Isshin felt the same way since he observed the room silently before turning toward Masaki. "What is all this?"_

"_I don't know Isshin. I've never been to a pageant before. Yuzu's friend Ririn does pageants and Yuzu wanted to try one."_

_Just then, Ririn and her mom spotted the Kurosakis and waved at them before coming over. Ririn's mom hugged Masaki. "You guys made it! Did you have any problems finding it?" Ririn's mom asked._

_Masaki shook her head. "No, it was pretty easy to find." She glanced around before returning her attention to Ririn's mom. "I'm a little concerned though. I just wanted this to be something fun for Yuzu but it looks like this whole thing is pretty serious."_

_Ririn's mom waved off Masaki's concerns. "Some of these moms do take it too seriously but don't worry about it. Most of us are normal and we just want the kids to have fun. I don't let Ririn tan or put on make-up. She's only 4!" Masaki let out a sigh of relief. "Come on, I'll show you where to register." Masaki, Yuzu, Ririn, and Ririn's mom all left to register and Ichigo was left with his dad and little sister. _

_Ichigo quickly spotted Keigo since he was one of only a handful of boys in the room. He told his father where he was going and Isshin waved him off. "Hey Keigo!" Keigo, who had been sitting Indian style on the floor with his head in his hands looking bored out of his mind, glanced up when he heard his voice being called. _

_Keigo's face broke into a huge grin. "Hey Ichigo." Ichigo took a seat next to Keigo._

"_So....what do you do for fun at these things?" Ichigo asked after a few moments of silence which both boys used to people watch. _

_Keigo looked at Ichigo incredulously before asking, "Who told you these things are fun?" _

_Ichigo sighed before continuing his people watching. He noticed that all the kids and parents seemed to mingle except for an auburn haired girl in the corner of the room. At first, he assumed the woman with her was her coach since there appeared to be no bond between the girl and the woman. But on closer inspection, he realized the woman must be her mom because of the resemblance between them. They both had the same auburn colored hair and their eyes were the same ashy gray color. But while the woman's eyes were cold and calculating, the daughter had a deep sadness in her eyes. She looked scared and trapped. _

_Ichigo continued to watch them as the girl practiced her baton routine. Unfortunately, the girl seemed to be pretty clumsy and continuously dropped the baton. Her mother glared at her. "Damn it Orihime! Can't you do anything right?! Do you know how expensive all this pageant stuff is? Are you even trying?" _

_Orihime's eyes welled up with tears. "I am trying." She stated weakly. _

_Her mother scoffed. "You're pathetic. Start again from the beginning."_

_The girl nodded weakly before starting over and completing the routine perfectly._

_Keigo followed Ichigo's line of vision to the auburn haired girl. "That's Inoue Orihime. I've seen her at a bunch of different pageants. She usually wins." Keigo informed Ichigo._

"_She looks really unhappy." Ichigo stated._

_Before Keigo could say anything else, a woman walked in and announced the pageant was starting. Ichigo stood up and then offered a hand to Keigo to help pull him up. They followed the crowd into a conference room that had been transformed into The Little Miss Karakura pageant. It was all pretty cheesy looking. Huge cut outs of palm trees adorned the stage and beach balls were strewn randomly throughout the room. Ichigo spotted his dad and Karin and he and Keigo joined them in the audience. He assumed his mom was with Yuzu back stage. _

_Eventually, the pageant got started and Ichigo was disappointed to see the competitors were split by age groups. He glanced at the clock behind him. How long was this going to take? Eventually, it was time for the 3 to 5 age group. "And now" the announcer declared, "we have Kurosaki Yuzu. She is 4 years old, her favorite food is sushi, and when she grows up she wants to be a doctor." Yuzu walked onto the stage and smiled as she modeled her glittery blue dress that Masaki had bought just for the occasion._

_Isshin clapped loudly with tears rolling down his face. "My little baby, all grown up!" Ichigo and Karin ignored him and nonchalantly tried to distance themselves from him so people wouldn't know they were related._

_Next, it was 6 to 8 year olds. Ichigo watched with little interest until the announcer said. "And next we have Inoue Orihime. She is 8 years old. Her favorite food is….." the announcer paused before saying "red bean paste with vanilla ice cream and when she grows up, she wants to be an astronaut teacher who owns a donut shop." Some members of the audience laughed at her nonsensical aspirations. Orihime walked onto the stage with a well practiced fake smile and did the standard pageant walk before smiling once more at the judges and hopping off the stage._

_Keigo's sister competed in the 9-11 year division before the announcer announced intermission so the girls could change into talent outfits. After intermission, the mood was much less tense and people started walking around in the audience during the show and after their turn many of the competitors would join their family in the audience. _

_Keigo and Ichigo were playing Go Fish in the aisle by the time it was Yuzu's turn to perform. She sang a very off tune rendition of itsy bitsy spider. Everyone clapped politely and Isshin gave her a standing ovation. "Encore!" He demanded before being pulled back into his seat by Karin, who was surprisingly strong for a four year old. _

_By the time it was Orihime's turn to perform, Ichigo had beaten Keigo at 6 games of Go Fish and had resigned himself to going back to watching the pageant. The Japanese national anthem blared from the speakers as Orihime stepped onto the stage. Her shoulder length hair was pulled into a ponytail and she wore a red leotard. She did some cartwheels and tumbles while she caught the baton. The audience seemed to be pretty impressed and clapped every time she made a catch. Finally, she reached the grand finale and threw the baton in the air before doing two back hand springs. It seemed that her timing was a little off because she managed to grab the end of the baton but she didn't have a good enough grip on it and it clattered to the stage. She quickly picked and up and bowed to the judges and flashed a smile into the audience. Everyone clapped and she smiled some more. Ichigo was pretty sure he was the only one who noticed that her eyes were darting nervously towards her mother and her smile was completely fake. He glanced at her mother and saw the glare she was giving Orihime. Orihime's smile faltered a little as her eyes met her mother's. She gave one last bow before skipping off the stage. The next girl went on stage and while everyone was focused on her Ichigo saw Orihime's mom grab her roughly by the arm and drag her out of the room. _

_Ichigo stood from his seat. "Where are you going?" Masaki asked as she adjusted a sleeping Yuzu on her lap. _

"_Bathroom." Ichigo answered._

_Masaki nodded and Ichigo hurried out the double doors. Although he had anticipated the scene that greeted him when he opened the doors, he was still a little shaken. Orihime's mom still had a tight grip on Orihime's arm and was shaking her roughly as she verbally berated her for her performance. As they heard the double doors open, two pairs of gray eyes turned to look at him. One pair in gratitude and the other in anger._

_Orihime's mom immediately released Orihime's arm. "What are you doing out here?" She asked._

"_Looking for the bathroom." Ichigo replied._

"_It's that way." Orihime's mom pointed down the hall._

_Ichigo nodded. "I know." _

_When he still hadn't moved a couple of seconds later, Orihime's mom seemed to give up and roughly pushed past him as she re-entered the conference room. Ichigo turned to glare at her retreating back before turning back to Orihime. _

"_You okay?" He asked._

_She smiled, a real smile, before replying. "I'm fine. Thank you."_

"_No problem. I'm Kurosaki Ichigo by the way."_

"_I'm Inoue Orihime."_

"_You were really good Inoue." He scratched the back of his neck nervously. _

"_The whole baton thing I mean." He clarified._

_"Thank you Kurosaki-kun." She tried to fight back the blush she knew was forming on her face. "You're Yuzu-chan's brother right?"_

_He nodded. "You know Yuzu?"_

_"I met her back stage. She is very sweet. She talks about you a lot."_

_"Really?" He asked, somewhat surprised. _

_She nodded. "You seem like a good big brother. You remind me of my brother Sora. He always protects me from…" She cut herself off but he knew what she was going to say. _

_"Where is he?" He asked._

_"In college. He has class today. But he went to the local university instead of Tokyo University so he could keep an eye on me. He is very sweet. Like you."_

_This time, Ichigo had to fight his blush. He gestured to the conference room. "We should probably get back."_

_Yuzu ended up winning 4__th__ runner up in her age group and Mizuho, Keigo's sister, placed second in her age group. Orihime ended up taking the big title of Little Miss Karakura. But even as she hugged the pageant directors and accepted her crown and flowers with a big smile, the sadness never left her eyes._

_Over the year, Yuzu went to a couple more pageants. She usually didn't place, but she didn't seem to care and she was having a lot of fun. Sometimes, Keigo would be at the pageant with Mizuho, but even if he wasn't there, Ichigo could always count on Orihime being there. It turned out that her mother entered her in every pageant within 100 miles of Karakura. Over the year they became friends, despite the disapproval from Orihime's mom._

_The friendship abruptly ended when Maskai died in a terrible car crash. The truck driver had been drunk. Five people had died in the pile up. After that, there weren't any more pageants. _

_******************end flashback********************  
_

He was snapped out of his reminiscences by a particularly loud sob courtesy of Keigo. "I feel like our friendship is dying."

"Shut up Keigo." Ichigo stared at Orihime. While it seemed like all the other girls were listening intently to Mayuri, she seemed to be day dreaming.

"Alright. Are you girls ready for a run through? Lights!" Mayuri exclaimed loudly. The light above Ichigo and his friends switched on and gray eyes met brown eyes. Her eyes widened in recognition and he smirked. He was suddenly glad he had allowed his dad to talk him into helping out with the pageant.

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There is the end of chapter 1! Please review!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Just to let you guys know, I pretty much know nothing about pageants. I'm pretty much just basing everything off the movie Drop Dead Gorgeous. So a lot of the things I say will probably be wrong. Just bare with me. : )

Disclaimer: Still don't own Bleach.

_*******2 weeks ago******_

_As Keigo let out his hundredth sigh of the day, Ichigo's patience with him started to wane. "Something wrong Keigo?" _

_Keigo obviously didn't realize Ichigo's question had been sarcastic because he let out another exaggerated sigh before answering. "I've never been so bored in my life." _

_Keigo, Ichigo, Chad, Rukia, and Renji were just killing time watching an old movie in the Kurosaki living room as they tried to come up with something entertaining to do. Ichigo rolled his eyes. "You didn't have to come over. I only invited you because I know how upset you get when I don't include you in every aspect of my life." Ichigo explained. _

_"So this was a pity invitation? Well, I don't need your pity Kurosaki! Me and Mizuiro hang out all the time and actually do exciting stuff unlike you boring people!" Keigo huffed and crossed his arms before scooting further away from Ichigo on the couch they currently inhabited. _

_Rukia, who had previously been laying on the floor, suddenly sat up and turned to face Ichigo. "This is pretty boring Ichigo. You invite all of us over and you didn't plan anything for us to do?" Rukia asked rudely._

_Ichigo glared at her. "Whatever midget! It's not like you were busy or anything."_

_Rukia returned his glare. "For your information, I was drawing when you rudely interrupted me by calling. It was some of my best work ever and now I'm pretty sure you knocked me out of my zone."_

_"Rukia, I've seen your drawings. I probably did the world a big favor by interrupting you when I did."_

_"Why you-" Rukia started before Renji interrupted. _

_"I have an idea. Why don't we all go to see that new movie? Bad Shield 2 or whatever it's called. I heard it was pretty good." Renji suggested._

_"Only one problem with that Renji. Me, Chad, and Ichigo are totally broke." Keigo explained. _

_"Why don't you ask your dad for money? My brother gives me a monthly allowance so I can go out and have fun." Rukia said._

_Just then, Isshin came back from the grocery store with Yuzu and Karin. He waved at Ichigo and his friends before continuing to the kitchen with the grocery bags. _

_Ichigo shrugged. "It's worth a shot I guess. Let's go." All of Ichigo's friends followed him into the kitchen. Ichigo casually leaned against the kitchen counter as he watched his father unload the groceries and load them into the refrigerator. "Hey Dad."_

_"What is it son?" Isshin continued to unload the groceries throughout the conversation. _

_"Can I have some money? We were going to catch a movie or something."_

_"Absolutely not."_

_"Why the hell not? I'm bored!" Ichigo slammed his hand down on the counter for emphasis._

_"Because you need to make your own money so you can become a real man. When I was your age, I had to walk 20 miles across burning hot desert to the factory where…." Ichigo ignored the rest of his dad's ramblings. Every time he told this story it was different. One second he was a janitor, and the next time he would bring it up he was an underage male stripper forced to support his whole family. _

_"But Kurosaki-san! No one is hiring! Believe me, I've looked." Keigo said. _

_Isshin suddenly had an epiphany. He stopped unloading groceries and raised his fist in triumph. "I know the perfect job for you boys! This summer is the first annual Miss Teen Karakura pageant. They need people to move and build props, lighting, you know that kind of stuff."_

_Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "Don't pageants usually last a couple of hours?"_

_"Not this one. It's a pretty big deal. It's going to be televised and the winner will get the chance to compete to be Miss Teen Japan. Because of this, they have two weeks of rehearsal before the actual pageant. So you'll basically just do a bunch of odd jobs for 2 weeks. Anyone interested?"_

_Chad shrugged. "Why not."_

_Rukia looked disgusted. "Beauty pageants are demeaning to woman. No way will I be any part of this!" _

_"Already got a job at Urahara's shop." Renji announced._

_Keigo looked like he had just died and gone to Heaven. "You mean they'll pay me to hang out with hot chicks for two weeks? Count me in!"_

_Isshin seemed pleased to have recruited two people. He turned toward his scowling son. "What about you Ichigo?" He asked_

_"How do you even know about this pageant?" Ichigo asked suspiciously._

_"I'm going to be a judge. One of the judges is always a local business man. Plus, I'm also a sponsor. Got to get the Kurosaki name out there. So, are you in or not?"_

_Ichigo hesitated before finally consenting. "Fine. I'll do it."_

_*************end flashback**************_

No matter how hard Orihime tried to pay attention to what Mayuri Kurotsuchi was saying, she found that today she was having even more trouble focusing than usual. She had always been prone to day dreaming, but over the last few years of pageants it had gotten steadily worse. She had never particularly liked pageants, but now she absolutely despised them. The worst part was the fact that thanks to her mom, she had absolutely no life outside of pageants. One day while she was cleaning their tiny cramped apartment, which they barely spent any time in because they were always traveling here and there to go to a pageant, she had found herself dusting her trophies. When she had stopped to inspect one, she realized she couldn't distinguish the Little Miss Tanabata pageant from all the other pageants in her mind. They all just seemed to blend together, day after day, year after year.

"Alright. Are you girls ready for a run through? Lights!" Mayuri exclaimed loudly. His loud exclamation finally snapped Orihime out of her own thoughts. She was slightly horrified that she had no idea what they were about to be running through, but she figured she'd be able to watch the other girls and figure it out. As the lights switched on, Orihime realized there were three teenage boys sitting in the audience. She intended to give them a quick glance over but there was something familiar about the boy with shockingly orange hair that caused her eyes to linger on him.

As her grey eyes met his deep brown eyes, she suddenly remembered who he was. He smirked at her and she offered him a small smile and a hesitant wave. Before he could wave back, their moment was interrupted. "Oh. I forgot you guys were here. You're still waiting for me to give you something to do right?" Mayuri addressed Ichigo and his friends.

Chad and Keigo nodded while Ichigo pulled his gaze from Orihime to glance at Mayuri. "For now, just watch from the audience. Tell me how the angles look. Okay?" Mayuri instructed. All three boys nodded. "Good. Now girls, from the beginning. And a one, and a two and a three…"

Suddenly, a fanfare started to blare from the stereo Nemu was holding and all the girls on stage, besides Orihime, quickly placed themselves in a single file line, tallest to shortest. Orihime quickly tried to avoid embarrassment by finding a spot in line. "Excuse me." She whispered as she squeezed her way between her friend Chizuro and a girl named Loly who glared at her as she took her place. The music reached a crescendo and suddenly all the girls spun out of the line and Orihime was left standing there like an idiot. When all the other girls broke out into a full fledged dance routine Orihime half heartedly attempted to follow what Chizuro was doing but failed miserably.

"Inoue-san, what the hell are you doing?" Mayuri asked, a dangerous edge to his tone. While she was still trying to formulate an answer in her head, Mayuri continued. "I only have two weeks to put together this whole pageant. I won't have you embarrassing me and ruining my good name on national television. So how about paying attention? I know this might be a lot to ask from you since you're used to being able to get by on your looks, but sometimes it is necessary to use your tiny brain."

Although she was extremely offended, Orihime's embarrassment of her lapse of focus kept her from mouthing off to Mayuri. Plus, her fear of her mother's reaction if she offended Mayuri and got kicked out of the pageant also helped ensure her silence.

Ichigo clenched his fists from his seat in the audience. Was she really not going to defend herself? Fine, then he would do it for her. Before he could open his mouth and probably lose himself a job, a new voice interrupted.

"That wasn't very nice Mayuri." Everyone's attention focused on the tall brunette man who had suddenly appeared from the right stage wing. He was dressed in an expensive Armani suit and had a slicked back hairstyle that made him look very important. Everyone seemed to be awed by his sudden appearance and for a few seconds there was silence besides his designer shoes tapping on the floor as he made his way over to Mayuri and Orihime. "You can't treat everyone like you treat your daughter. Family has to put up with you. We don't."

Mayuri's fists clenched as he glared at the newcomer. "Don't tell me how to raise my daughter Aizen-sama."

Aizen ignored him and stopped in front of Orihime. Orihime had to repress her urge to take a step back. Something about this Aizen made her skin crawl. He smiled at her and extended his hand. "I'm Aizen Sōsuke" He greeted.

When she extended her hand for a handshake, he suddenly lifted her hand to his lips. She blushed involuntarily. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Loly and Loly's friend Menoly glaring at her. "I'm-"

"Inoue Orihime." Aizen interrupted. He smiled at the look of surprise on her face. "I know who you are Inoue-san. After all, you are quite well known in the pageant world. I own The Miss Teen Karakura Pageant. I'm so glad you are participating." Not knowing what to say, Orihime just nodded awkwardly. Suddenly he put a hand on her face and leaned close to her. For a second, she thought he was going to kiss her, but at the last second he veered toward her ear. "Don't let Mayuri get you down. You should smile. People don't like it when the sun isn't shining. Smile for me."

Orihime offered him a small fake smile which seemed to satisfy him since he pulled away and walked toward the rest of the girls. Orihime let out a breathe she had been unaware she was holding. "Keep up the good work girls. I have a feeling this pageant will be a huge success." Aizen smiled at the swarm of swooning pageant girls before suddenly disappearing as suddenly as he had appeared.

Orihime allowed her eyes to dart to Ichigo, but he wasn't looking at her. He was glaring in the general direction Aizen had disappeared from. "Alright Inoue-san. I'll explain the routine one more time. Are you paying attention?" Mayuri asked in an exasperated manner.

"Yes Kurotsuchi-san." Orihime replied weakly.

Three hours later, the girls had perfected the introduction and Mayuri announced there would be a lunch break before they continued learning the new material. He gestured for Ichigo, Chad, and Keigo, who had spent the last three hours thoroughly cleaning the auditorium, to come near. "I need you to take lunch orders and then go pick up all the food. Here is the official pageant credit card. You can get something for yourselves too, but don't spend more than 500 yen."

The boys scattered to get orders. Ichigo noticed with irritation that Keigo was taking orders on the side of the room where Orihime was. He scowled and went to get the girls' orders on the other side of the room.

"500 yen? What the hell am I going to eat with 500 measly yen? I'm not even going to be able to get a drink. And all that cleaning made me really thirsty! What a cheap bastard! This job sucks." Keigo continued his complaints all the way from the auditorium to the sandwich shop. "Awww great!" Keigo exclaimed as soon as they entered the shop. "Look at this line! We are going to be here forever. I don't know why I let your dad talk me into this job Ichigo."

"It was because of the girls." Chad stated matter of factly.

"Oh. That's right. Well, that was a mistake. Kurotsuchi has us working so hard I don't even have enough free time to seduce any of them." Keigo whined.

Keigo continued with his complaints all the way up to the register. They had already placed their orders over the phone so all they had to do was pay and pick up the food. Chad easily carried four bags full of sandwiches, Ichigo carried three, and Keigo struggled with two. Keigo's uneasiness slowed their pace considerably. "Come on Keigo. We don't have all day!" Ichigo griped.

"There are drinks in here! How fast do you expect me to go?" Keigo replied. Ichigo ignored him and picked up his pace. Keigo found himself speeding up to avoid being left behind.

Eventually, they reached the auditorium and all the food was handed out. All the girls had split into their cliques to eat. Orihime's group was one of the smaller cliques. She was pretty sure it was because most of the girls disliked her automatically because they considered her a threat. Luckily for Orihime, she had made friends with people who cared about pageants as little as she did. Her red headed friend Chizuro used the pageants as an opportunity to meet cute girls. Apparently, she had quite the crush on Orihime. Although her advances made Orihime uncomfortable, she considered Chizuro one of her best friends. Her other friend, a short brunette with just above shoulder length hair named Michiru, did pageants for the scholarship money. She didn't really care about placing since usually every participant got scholarship money just for competing.

"It makes me nervous to have an audience for the rehearsals." Michiru confessed between bites of turkey sandwich.

"You mean those three guys that are working here?" Chizuro asked.

Michiru nodded. "The really big one looks like a thug. And that one with the bleached hair has such a scary face. He's probably a punk"

Both girls grimaced as they watched Orihime put honey and wasabi on her ham sandwich. "I think Kurosaki-kun's face is funny."

"Well, I guess funny is better than scary." All three girls turned around at the sudden statement to see Ichigo standing there with his sandwich. Michiru turned bright red at having been caught bad mouthing him and quickly scooted away to join another group, dragging Chizuro with her. Ichigo took Michiru's vacated position on the edge of the stage next to Orihime. "Hey." He greeted.

"Hi Kurosaki-kun!"

They both ate in silence for a few minutes while both tried to think of a conversation starter. "So" Ichigo started awkwardly "What have you been doing for the last ten years?"

Orihime smiled at him sadly. "This" She said as she gestured to the stage around them. "Lots of pageants. What about you Kurosaki-kun? What have you been doing?"

"Nothing much. Going to school. Playing soccer. Just the average stuff."

Ichigo found it hard to talk to Orihime when everyone around them was obviously listening in on their conversation. He glared at a particular group of girls who were whispering to each other and snickering while looking right at him. They were obviously wondering what miss goody-two-shoes Inoue Orihime was doing with the scowling bleached hair delinquent. He realized he was never going to be able to have a decent conversation with her unless he could get her alone somewhere. They continued their awkward conversation for a couple more minutes before Mayuri announced lunch was over.

Ichigo sighed as he watched her walk away. He vowed to himself that he wasn't going to let things stay so awkward between them.

Three hours later, rehearsal was finally over for the day. Orihime rolled her neck to get rid of the ache as she walked backstage to grab her purse and her coat. As she slipped on her coat, she noticed Ichigo hard at work installing clothes hangers. She considered going over to him and saying goodbye, but she decided not to disturb him. She dragged her feet as she walked toward where her mom was waiting for her in the audience. Her mom stood up as Orihime approached. "Hurry up. We are running late to meet your walking coach." Orihime's mom snapped as soon as Orihime was in ear shot.

"Inoue!" Both mother and daughter turned toward the stage at the sound of his voice. He jogged up the aisle until he was standing in front of her. "You want to go get dinner?" Ichigo asked nervously. "Not like a date or anything. Just to catch up?" He added after she didn't respond for a moment.

Orihime, slightly disappointed about it not being a date, glanced at her mother worriedly. Orihime's mom offered her a small pasted on smile. While she had wanted the smile to look sweet, it came off looking more malicious than anything. "Go Orihime. Have a nice time." She said.

Orihime blinked stupidly in surprise for a few seconds before realizing Ichigo was still waiting for an answer. "Sure Kurosaki-kun. I would love to."

He smiled. "Great. Let me get my stuff and then we can go." She nodded and he jogged off to grab his backpack.

Orihime's mom grabbed her arm and turned Orihime around to face her. "Don't mess this up. His father is one of the judges. This could be a great opportunity for you to get ahead. You know how important this pageant is. Do whatever you have to do to win" Her mother explained. Orihime thought of how ironic it was that her own mother was basically telling her to whore herself out to win a stupid pageant. Instead of voicing this, she just nodded. "Good. I'll see you when you get home." With that said her mom turned away and walked toward the door.

Orihime stared after her until she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned her head slightly to see Ichigo. "Ready to go?"

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So there is chapter two. That one was kind of hard to write because I don't really have this whole thing planned out. I have more ideas for the next chapter though so hopefully that one will be easier to write. Thank you to everyone who faved, reviewed, and alerted! Now reviewer responses!

Star-In-The-Sky-25- You were my first reviewer for this story. Thanks and here is the update.

Fostersb- Thanks! It is kind of hard to portray Orihime's relationship with her mom since we never see her in the manga but we all know it is a pretty crappy relationship. Here is more.

Blitch-Thank you! I hope everyone is still pretty much in character. Mayuri is probably the most difficult since I don't really know all that much about him anyway, but I try. There will be more IchiHime next chapter!

xXsnowfeltXx- Thank you for reviewing!

Babiip- Crazy moms are everywhere on TV! Thanks for reading and reviewing!

The Two Sides of Fate- I'm glad we agree about pageants! Yeah, Ichigo is definitely going to help Orihime become happy again. Thank you for your review!

I'll try to update again soon since after Summer is over updates are going to be much more spaced out. Please review! Let me know what you think!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Alright, chapter 3! Well, I don't really have anything else to say so on with the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or the characters

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"What are you doing?" The auburn haired girl asked.

Ichigo glanced at Orihime in surprise as he handed 2000 yen to the cashier at the pizza joint. "What do you mean?"

"You don't have to pay for my food Kurosaki-kun. I brought money with me." She reached into her purse and started looking for the proper amount of cash.

"Don't be stupid Inoue. I'm not going to invite you out and then not pay for you. Put your money away. Dinner is my treat."

She blushed and abandoned her search for her money. "Thank you Kurosaki-kun."

"No problem." He replied without looking at her as the cashier handed him his change and his receipt. Ichigo crumbled the receipt and shoved it into his pocket with his change. He stepped away from the cash register to make room for the next customer and Orihime followed him toward the soda machine where they waited for their food. "Have you ever been her before?" Ichigo asked.

Orihime shook her head. "I don't go out to eat much. In fact, I've actually never had pizza before."

Ichigo gave her a strange look but before she could decipher what it meant he had gotten his expression back under control and now just looked curious. "You've never had pizza?"

Once again, she shook her head. "My mom is watching my weight. She would never let me eat something like this."

He scratched the back of his neck nervously. "If you want, I could get you something else. I wasn't really thinking I guess. Obviously, beauty queens don't eat things like pizza and fries." He couldn't quite mask the disappointment in his voice at their not-a-date getting off to a bad start.

His disappointment quickly faded as he watched her shake her head vehemently. "No! I've always wanted to try pizza and my mom is not here so now I can finally do it."

He smiled at her amusedly. Eating a slice of pizza wasn't normally an act of teenage rebellion but there was a first time for everything.

"Order number 22!" An employee yelled from the counter.

Ichigo pulled the crumbled receipt out of his pocket to check what number they were. "That's us." He confirmed after checking the receipt. Ichigo went to get their food and Orihime decided to get them a table. She sat down at a two person table and wiped some crumbs off of the table as she waited for Ichigo. "Inoue!" She glanced up from the table when she heard him call her and was surprised to see him standing by the door. "Let's go."

She quickly got to her feet and approached the door. "We're not eating here?"

"No. I want to show you something."

_

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_

Orihime gasped as she reached the top of the hill. What a view! From the top of the hill at Karakura Park, they had a perfect view of the river and the sunset. She turned towards Ichigo who was struggling up the hill with their food and a blanket that she had been surprised fit into the trunk of his motorcycle. She had offered to carry the food, but he had told her not to worry about it. She was considering asking him once again if he needed her help but realized it would be pretty pointless since he had only a few steps to go. She went back to admiring the way the sun reflected on the river and left everything with an orange glow.

Ichigo chose a shady spot under a big oak tree and set the blanket down. He put the food down on the blanket and walked up behind Orihime. "Pretty good view isn't it?"

She hadn't heard him approach and jumped slightly when she heard his voice coming from so close to her but she quickly recovered and nodded enthusiastically.

"We used to come up here and have picnics all the time when I was younger. This park was one of my mom's favorite places." Ichigo confessed as he gazed at the river. "After she died, we never came up here as a family again. But I still come up here to think. Being here helps clear my head." He suddenly wondered why he was telling her all this. It was all very personal but telling her didn't make him feel at all uncomfortable. "Well, we should probably eat before the food gets cold."

Ichigo plopped himself down on the blanket and Orihime gingerly sat beside him. Ichigo distributed the food and watched apprehensively as she took her first bite of pizza ever. He quickly found out he had no reason to be anxious since her eyes closed in ecstasy as she thoroughly enjoyed the pizza. He blushed at the trip to the gutter his mind took at her expression and instead focused on eating his food.

"This is absolutely delicious Kurosaki-kun! The only thing that could make it better would be wasabi and red bean paste. And maybe some peanut butter."

Ichigo wasn't sure what the correct response to that statement was so he opted to just nod. For a few moments, they ate in silence while both admired the rapidly setting sun. Orihime finished her food first since she had basically devoured her pizza and fries and with nothing left to eat she decided it was time to initiate a conversation. She leaned back, supporting her weight with her arms as she watched the sun set. "You know Kurosaki-kun, this is pretty romantic for something that isn't a date."

Ichigo choked on his french fries but quickly tried to avoid any more embarrassment by covering up his choking with a cough. He had an awful feeling that he was probably blushing but he forced himself to play it cool. "This surely can't be the most romantic date you've ever been on Inoue. You probably have to fight the guys off with a baseball bat."

She laughed. "I don't really date much. In fact, my last date was 6 months ago. What about you Kurosaki-kun? Do you date a lot?" She had been tearing out grass blades, but with her last question she turned to meet his gaze.

He shrugged. "Not really. I've only been on a couple of dates since me and Senna broke up last year. I think I intimidate most of the girls I know."

"I don't think you are intimidating."

"I'm different around you than I am around them."

She raised a perfectly tweezed eyebrow. "Why?"

"I don't know. Maybe because I knew you before my mom died. Something traumatic like that changes you. But when I'm around you, I feel like I'm eight years old again." After making that admission he could definitely feel his face heating up and he turned away from her to look out at the river.

Her grey orbs remained on him for a few more seconds before she too turned to gaze at the river. Behind them, she heard the sounds of children playing and turned her gaze to watch two little girls playing hide and seek. She giggled at their antics. "Is this a popular park Kurosaki-kun?"

He nodded. "Where do you live?" He asked suddenly.

She turned away from the little girls to look at him. Was he taking her home already? Was she boring him or something? "East Karakura. Near the bridge."

"And you've never been to Karakura Park?"

"I've never been to a lot of places and I've never done a lot of things. I told you I don't get out much. I always have pageant stuff to do." She explained.

"You really hate pageants don't you?"

"No. Pageants are great opportunities to meet new friends, they teach girls confidence and poise, they have put thousands of girls through college, and they celebrate community." She rattled.

He sighed as he leaned against the oak tree. "You don't have to do that."

"Do what?"

"Give me beauty pageant answers. This isn't an interview and I'm not scoring your response. So how about how you really feel?"

They gazed at each other in silence for a few moments before she broke the eye contact and looked down at her lap. "Why don't you just tell your mom you don't want to do pageants anymore?"

She laughed, but it wasn't the melodious laughter from earlier in the day, now it seemed forced. "You don't know my mother."

"You're not eight years old anymore. She can only control you if you let her."

He hated that she wouldn't look at him. Her gaze had returned to the river. "You don't understand Kurosaki-kun."

"Then explain it. Why don't you just move out?" He persisted. He suddenly remembered the older brother she had spent so much time gushing over 8 years ago. "Where is your brother? Why don't you live with him?"

She stiffened and he immediately regretted asking but it was out there now and he couldn't take it back. "Sora died seven years ago." She finally turned to look at him. "He died in the same accident that your mom died in."

"How do you know?" His tone sounded more suspicious than he would have liked.

"I read about it in the newspaper. My mom wouldn't tell me where he was and I knew something was wrong so I decided to find out by myself. There were five victims. Your mom, my brother, and a mother and her two young sons." She returned he gaze to the river.

An uncomfortable silence persisted for several moments as Ichigo absorbed everything and Orihime gathered her thoughts. He had wondered why she didn't look surprised when he told her of his mother's death but know he realized she had already known. Ichigo couldn't help but wonder if they could have helped each other through that difficult time in their lives if they had stayed in touch after Yuzu's pageant days were over. But what was done was done.

He was surprised when Orihime broke the silence. "I can't just leave. She is the only family I have. I never met my dad, my brother is dead, as far as I know I don't have aunts, uncles, or grandparents so where would I go?"

"Don't you have money from these pageants? You win all the time right?"

"I don't get the money. My mom does."

"She can't just steal your money! Why aren't you more upset about her taking your money?"

"She's not making a profit or anything Kurosaki-kun. I doubt she is even breaking even. She has to pay all my coaches, my nutritionist, my personal trainer, buy the dresses, baton lessons, dance lessons…" She rattled as she counted off the costs on her fingers. "I don't think she makes me do pageants for the money."

"Then what is it?"

She shrugged. "I think it is more of a pride thing. Since I'm her daughter if people think I'm pretty it means she is pretty too. I think she hates the way her life turned out and she wants to live through me. She was Miss Teen Osaka but they took her title away since she got pregnant with Sora at 16. I think that is why she doesn't let me date."

"Then why did she let you go out with me?" He questioned, forgetting that this wasn't a date.

"Because your dad is a judge. She thinks being involved with you will help me win." She noticed the way he tensed at her answer and even though he tried to hide it, she could tell what he was thinking. "That's not why I went out with you Kurosaki-kun. You already figured out I don't care about winning this pageant or any pageant. I agreed to go out with you because I like you. I've always liked you. You must have noticed the humongous crush I had on you when we were little. I thought it had gone away but as soon as I saw you today I realized it hadn't."

He hadn't noticed, but according to Rukia, he was pretty oblivious in general. He realized he should probably say something. She was starting to look dejected as if his silence meant he didn't like her as anything more than a friend. 'Gotta think of something to say….gotta think of something to say…damn it all! Why do I suck so much at all this romantic stuff?' He thought.

Orihime decided she had already dug herself into quite the deep hole with her admission so she might as well give in to her instinct to kiss him. It wasn't like things could get any more awkward anyway.

Ichigo was still trying to formulate an appropriate response in his head when he was pulled from his thoughts by the feel of her soft lips pressing hesitantly against his own. The kiss lasted for all of two seconds before she pulled back and blushed. "Sorry Kurosaki-kun. I'm usually not this impulsive." She giggled nervously. "Maybe the little blue men are secretly controlling my mind and they are making me do and say things that normally I would just think. I'm sorry Kurosaki-kun."

She let her gaze rest on a procession of ants that had been attracted by Ichigo's forgotten fries. She was so focused on the ants she didn't notice his hand until he had cupped her chin and forced her to look at him. "Orihime, you can call me Ichigo." With that said, he leaned forward and captured her lips.

It didn't take Orihime long to get over her shock and start responding to his kisses. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed herself against his chest as she continued to respond to his passionate kisses. He carefully lowered himself until he was laying on the blanket and she was lying on top of him. One of his hands tangled itself in her long auburn hair while he rested his other hand on the small of her back. With his hand in her hair, he gently guided her head until it was tilted in the perfect position to allow him to deepen their kiss. Ichigo had kissed his fair share of girls, but he had never experienced anything like the sensations he was feeling now with Orihime. When she opened her mouth to allow his tongue entrance, he had felt fireworks when his tongue tangled with hers. After a few moments, he pulled away and trailed kisses down her neck.

"Ichigo-kun." She murmured huskily as he started to suck on her neck. He really liked when she said his name with that husky tone. He could definitely get used to hearing that. He stopped sucking and placed a soft kiss on the red mark forming on her neck before returning to her lips. Orihime removed her arms from around his neck and placed them on his chest. She broke from his lips and placed a kiss on both of his cheeks and then brought one hand up to caress his cheek.

He ran his fingers through her hair before letting that hand cover the one she had placed on his cheek. He gently brought her hand to his lips and placed a kiss to the front of her hand. The smoldering look he was giving her almost made her forget why she had stopped the kiss in the first place. She forced herself to focus and gently pushed herself away from him. "It is getting late."

Ichigo looked around and noticed that he had been so preoccupied with Orihime he had failed to notice all the other occupants of the park leave. He did a double take when he realized the street lights were on. Despite this, he was still reluctant to end their semi-date. "Do you have a curfew or something?"

Orihime shook her head. "No. But I am supposed to take glamour shots today. I already missed my walking lesson and I think my mom will be really mad if I miss this photography session. Apparently, you have to make reservations months in advance to get your picture taken by Yumichika."

"Alright. Let's get you home."

As Ichigo gathered up the blanket Orihime threw away their trash. He threw the blanket over his left shoulder and after a moment of hesitation he reached out his right hand toward Orihime. She blushed as their fingers intertwined but he gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "So, do you always kiss like that on a first date?" He asked teasingly.

She laughed but her blush grew darker. "This isn't a date. Remember Ichigo-kun? We're just 'catching up'" She punctuated 'catching up' with a one handed air quote.

He smiled. "Well, now that we're all caught up I guess this can now be officially considered a date."

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"You don't have to walk me all the way to the door you know."

"I know. But I want to. So humor me."

They climbed the two flights of stairs until they were standing outside Orihime's apartment. Orihime turned to face Ichigo. "Thank you for dinner Ichigo-kun. Goodnight."

She stood on tip toe so she could plant a quick peck on his lips. He tried to deepen the kiss but she quickly pulled away. She knew her mom was probably watching. Just then, the door swung open and both teens stepped away from each other.

Orihime's mom stood leaning in the doorway. She smiled at them, but as usual her smile lacked any real warmth. "Did you kids have fun?"

Neither teen said anything but after an uncomfortable silence Ichigo forced himself to nod. "Good." Orihime's mom said in a fake cheery voice.

"Well, I should get home. Goodnight Orihime. See you tomorrow" After a moment, he added "Goodnight Inoue-san."

"It's actually not Inoue-san. I was never married to Orihime's father. I'm Fujita Ayako." She corrected.

"Sorry Fujita-san. My mistake." Ichigo said.

She waved him off. "Don't worry about it. Drive safe!"

Ichigo nodded and walked back down the stairs toward his motorcycle. Both women watched as he revved up his motorcycle and drove off into the night. Ayako noticed the hickey on Orihime's neck. Her eyes danced with merriment. "I think he likes you. That's good." Orihime glanced at her mother but didn't bother to respond. Ayako didn't seem to mind. "Well, hurry up and get dressed and put some make-up on. You look terrible without make-up. We're going to Yumichicka's Studio." Orihime slipped into the apartment to do as she was told.

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End of chapter 3! Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and alerted last chapter. Now for reviewer responses.

**Fostersb**- I hope you enjoyed the date scene. Lol. I don't even know how Aizen fits into the story yet. I was writing the chapter and suddenly had the idea to throw him in so I did. I'm pretty much making it up as I go along. Thanks for reviewing!

**Miss L**- Yep. Orihime's mom is really conniving and willing to do anything if it means she wins. I'm actually not sure what something rotten in denmark is. It sounds like something from Hamlet maybe? Lol. English was always my worse subject since I never seemed to actually get around to reading the book. Thanks for reviewing!

**Babiip**- Doesn't Ichigo just seem like someone who would always think people have ulterior motives for everything? This definitely isn't the end of him questioning what she really wants out of their relationship. Yeah, Orihime is a bit OOC. I think she is more in character this chapter. Thanks for reviewing!

**Twi-Hoster girl**- Ichigo always has really good timing doesn't he? : p. I'm glad you like the story and thanks for reviewing!

**ShatteredDistance**- I'm so glad you like my story even though you don't like the IchiHime pairing! Hopefully this chapter didn't disappoint! And thanks for the compliments! (And every week the toddlers and tiaras moms get crazier!

So that's it. Please review!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or any of the characters.

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Orihime leaped to her feet and clapped enthusiastically as Chizuru finished her rendition of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. It was the 4th day of pageant rehearsals and today they were doing a dress rehearsal of the talent portion. Chizuru smiled at her before leaping off the piano, bouncing over to Orihime and enveloping her in a bear hug. "Thank you Hime! I can always count on you for support!" Suddenly, Chizuru's hands started to lower down Orihime's back. "You know Hime…you could come over to my house later and I could play the piece I wrote about you…."

Orihime felt her face heating up as she tried to think of a way to politely reject Chizuru's invitation. And all the while, Chizuru's hands were getting closer to their destination. "I think you are making Inoue-san uncomfortable Chizuru."

Both girls turned to see Chad addressing them as he rolled the heavy piano off the stage and back into storage. Chizuru's grip on Orihime loosened enough that Orihime managed to slip from her arms as Chizuru regarded Chad with a glare. "What is your problem? Can't you see that Orihime and I are in love?"

Whatever response Chad might have had was cut off by Mayuri. "So after Chizuru does her talent, Loly will be next, then Orihime, then Aya, and then Menoly will finish off the talent competition." Nemu diligently took notes of the order as her father talked. Mayuri suddenly stopped his pacing and pointed at Loly. "You ready?"

Loly, who had just appeared from the dressing room, adjusted her glittery black top hat and nodded. "Good. Go change Inoue-san. You're next."

Orihime nodded and flashed Chad a grateful look before she hurried backstage. Orihime could hear the sounds of Loly tap dancing to a 1920s ragtime hit fading the closer she got to the dressing rooms, but she could still faintly hear the tune. As she closed the dressing room door behind her, she realized the lock was broken. She assumed this would be one more thing Ichigo and his friends would have to fix. It was a little bit ridiculous how much work Mayuri actually expected them to do. He had them installing lights, mirrors, and other such jobs that should probably be left for professionals. But the boys were actually doing a pretty decent job and surely they were a lot cheaper than hiring professionals.

Orihime briefly searched for something to barricade the door with before deciding she was being overly paranoid. 'No one is going to be back her anyway.' She assured herself. She went to the locker she shared with Michiru and pulled out her baton outfit.

Instead of the simple red leotard she had worn as a child, her mother had bought her a new outfit that showed a lot more skin. Probably another of her mother's desperate attempts to get bonus points from the judges. The baton outfit was a two piece. The top looked like a long sleeved sports bra, but it was much fancier than the average sports bra. It was sequined with diagonal red and white rhinestones. The bottom of the outfit consisted of sparkly black short shorts. Although the outfit was very elastic and made it easy to do her acrobatics, she always felt very uncomfortable stepping onto a stage in front of hundreds of people baring so much skin.

Orihime made an attempt to pull the shorts down to cover more skin, but it did little good. She reached into the locker once again to pull out a sequined white scrunchie to tie her hair into a high ponytail. Orihime glanced down at her unpolished toes and mentally noted she would need a pedicure before the pageant.

"I like your hair up like that." Orihime's batons dropped and clattered on the wood floor as she spun around in shock.

"Aizen-sama!" He started to approach her and she immediately backed up until she felt her back hit the lockers. Normally, she would have been worried about offending Aizen with her obvious apprehension and mistrust but the fact that he had been watching her change made her ignore how she would have normally acted. "How long have you been standing there?" He ignored her question and continued to approach. She reasoned he couldn't have seen much since her back was turned to him but that thought did little to calm her.

"No need to be afraid Inoue Orihime. I don't bite."

"What do you want?" She had wanted to sound strong, but she knew it came off more as frightened.

Aizen stopped once he was standing directly in front of her. "I have a business proposition for you."

Orihime arched an eyebrow. "Why would I want to do business with some pervert who watches underage girls change?" Even she was slightly surprised that she was speaking to him in such a blatantly disrespectful manner. She briefly wondered what this would mean for the pageant but pushed that thought away quickly. She didn't really care. But she would have to deal with her mom.

Aizen looked surprised for a second, but quickly covered it up with an arrogant smirk. "I didn't even know you were in here. I assumed it was unoccupied since the door wasn't locked."

"The lock is broken." She felt compelled to explain. "But that doesn't explain why you stood there after realizing I was changing instead of leaving."

"You don't know how long I was standing there. Maybe I had just come in when you were putting your hair up."

"But did you?"

"Would you believe me if I told you I had?"

He had a good point. She wouldn't believe him and she had no way to know how long he had been there. She decided in this situation, she would have to give him the benefit of the doubt. But she would definitely be wearier around him in the future.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?"

Aizen smiled. "Well, I was just walking around backstage looking for one of the workers Mayuri hired because I want the sign outside replaced and then I stumble in here and find you." He flashed another smile at her which she forced herself to return in order to be polite. "And looking at you in that outfit made me realize how perfect you are." Orihime shifted uncomfortably. "Besides owning pageants, I also own a modeling agency."

He suddenly reached into his suitcase and pulled out a binder. On the cover, in plain Times New Roman font was 'Aizen Modeling Agency'. He stepped to her side and started rifling through the pages. Orihime noticed some shots that could be considered artistic, some commercial, but also some that seemed really provocative. Especially since a lot of the girls in the book looked to be around her age, some a couple years younger. Eventually, he flipped a page and was met with a blank sheet without a picture. He flipped the binder closed.

"Inoue Orihime, I want you to be the face of the Aizen Modeling Agency. We would travel the world. I can open doors for you. I can give you things no one else can. Things you can't even imagine." He had moved closer to her during the conversation and now his face was inches in front of her own.

The thought of going anywhere with Aizen completely repulsed Orihime. After today, she wasn't even sure if she could force herself to finish the pageant knowing he would often be here. "Thank you for the offer Aizen-sama, but I'm not really interested in modeling."

Distantly, she heard Loly's music stop and scattered applause. "Well, I have to go." Orihime said enthusiastically, probably a little too enthusiastically. She quickly grabbed her batons and all but ran out of the room. Aizen smiled at her retreating back. Once she had left the room, he leaned against a locker. "I hope you don't think this is over Inoue Orihime." After all, no one ever said no to Aizen Sōsuke.

Once she was out of the room and away from Aizen, the auburn haired girl breathed a big sigh of relief. She could feel the tension leaving her body as she walked toward the stage. Suddenly, someone grabbed her hand and she was pulled into a toned chest.

Her first instinct was to fight off her attacker, and she landed a couple of blows against his chest before he grabbed her hands to stop her assault. "Orihime! It's me!"

She looked up and found herself staring into Ichigo's scowling face. She smiled sheepishly. "Hey." She greeted softly.

His scowl gradually dissolved. "Hey." His eyes roamed over her outfit and his scowl returned. She almost felt compelled to explain she hadn't picked the outfit but then he started speaking. "Before you attacked me I wanted to ask you something."

She blushed. "I'm sorry for attacking you. But you shouldn't sneak up on people. Did I hurt you?"

He scoffed. "You couldn't hurt me if you tried."

She pulled her hands away from his and angrily put her hands on her hips. "For your information, my brother taught me karate and my skills are equivalent to a black belt's."

He smirked. "Really? That's unexpected." Before she could retort, he cut her off. "I wanted to ask you if you wanted to go to a concert with me and some friends in the park today."

She briefly wondered what pageant related duties she had today, but her mother was definitely encouraging her relationship with Ichigo so she was pretty sure she could go to the concert. After all, her mom hadn't been mad when she went to the mall with Ichigo yesterday, or when they caught a movie the day before. "Sounds like fun."

She gave him a quick peck before hurrying off to the stage. Mayuri glared at her when she finally showed up. "What happened? Fell into the toilet?"

"I'm sorry. I couldn't find my batons, turns out they were in my bag." She lied.

"Whatever. We're on a tight schedule. Just start already."

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Ichigo stopped his motorcycle in the driveway of what Orihime assumed was his house. She reluctantly loosened her grip on his waist and took off Ichigo's spare helmet. She absently ran both hands through her hair in case she had helmet hair before hopping off Ichigo's green Kawsaki sport bike. Ichigo placed his helmet on the handlebar before reaching for Orihime's helmet and doing the same.

Ichigo hesitated for a moment before reaching for her hand. He walked her to the front door but stopped before opening the door and turned to her with a deadly serious expression. "I have to tell you something."

When he didn't continue, she prompted him. "What?"

"My father is insane." He said solemnly. She just stared at him with a blank expression in her gray eyes. "He will probably say a lot of inappropriate things. He is a complete embarrassment and I want to apologize in advance."

Orihime offered him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry Ichigo-kun. Everyone thinks their parents are embarrassing. I'm sure he is not as bad as you think he is."

"You'll see. Just remember I told you. Stay behind me." He pushed her behind him but didn't let go of her hand.

He slowly opened the door as if anticipating something. "I'm home!" He shouted.

"Welcome home Ichigoooooo!" Isshin yelled as he came in with a flying kick. Amazingly, Ichigo blocked the kick with one hand and pushed his father off, resulting in Isshin falling to the floor in a crumpled heap. But instead of looking upset, Isshin beamed at Ichigo. "You blocked Daddy's special flying kick! Finally, you are becoming a man! The only thing that could possibly make me happier would be you bringing home a girl and finally proving you're not gay!"

Ichigo's vein pulsed. "I've had girlfriends! I don't introduce them to you because you'd scare them off!"

Isshin looked unconvinced. "Whatever helps you sleep at night son." He suddenly noticed Orihime for the first time. He immediately gave her a huge grin and pulled her forward until she was standing beside Ichigo. "Well hello there! My name is Kurosaki Isshin. It is a pleasure to meet you." He bowed deeply and placed a kiss to Orihime's hand.

She fought back a blush and smiled at Isshin. "Nice to meet you Kurosaki-san. I'm Inoue Orihime."

Isshin looked her over approvingly before turning to Ichigo. "You have my blessing."

Ichigo knew nothing good could come out of asking but his curiosity got the best of him. "Blessing for what?"

"To get married of course! I want lots of red headed grandbabies!"

This time, Orihime couldn't fight back her blush and she found herself avoiding eye contact with everyone in the room. Her red sneakers suddenly became very interesting. Her head shot up when she heard Ichigo's fist connect with Isshin's face. "You idiot! I'm 16 for God's sake! We've only been dating for three days! What is wrong with you?"

Orihime let go of Ichigo's hand and knelt by Isshin's crumbled form. "Ichigo-kun! I think you really hurt him!" She placed a gentle hand to the bump that was forming on Isshin's forehead.

"Don't worry about him. Ichi-nii has hit him way harder than that and he is always fine." Orihime looked up at the new voice and saw a girl who looked around 12. She vaguely remembered Yuzu from the pageants but she was pretty sure this wasn't her. For one thing, this girl didn't look like the type of girl who would ever be in a pageant. "I'm Karin." The tomboy introduced herself.

"I'm Inoue Orihime."

Karin grinned at Ichigo. "I'm pretty impressed Ichi-nii. I would have thought she was way out of your league."

Ichigo glowered at Karin. "Thanks for the support." He said sarcastically.

They all turned at Isshin's loud groan. He struggled to a sitting position. "What was that for?" He asked Ichigo as he rubbed his forehead.

"For embarrassing me, that's why! Why would we even be considering marriage this soon? You said it just to be a jerk!"

"I knew Masaki was the one I was going to marry after the first date." He smiled at the poster of Masaki on the wall. "Besides, she is obviously very important to you if you brought her home to meet your family!" Isshin explained triumphantly.

"I didn't bring her here to meet you! I wanted to eat before the concert and I'm broke. We can't go out and eat with no money so my only choice was to come home for dinner."

"So we're having a guest for dinner?" Yuzu yelled from the kitchen. Without waiting for a reply, she continued. "Okay, I'll set another place at the table. Dinner will be ready in about 15 minutes!"

"Come on Orihime, we can wait in my ro-" He stopped at the sly looks his dad and younger sister were giving him. "Never mind, we'll wait in the living room." Orihime stood from her kneeling position near Isshin and followed Ichigo into the living room.

He plopped down on the couch and turned on the TV. He noticed Orihime was still standing. "Come here." She sat beside him and he casually swung an arm over her shoulder as he flipped through the channels. He finally settled on a channel showing music videos.

Suddenly Yuzu appeared from the kitchen. She took her apron off and left it on the coffee table in front of the TV before she offered her hand to Orihime. "Hi! I'm Yuzu."

Orihime smiled. "We've actually met before. You probably don't remember. You were really little. I'm Inoue Orihime." She shook Yuzu's smaller hand.

"Sorry. I don't remember." Yuzu confessed. She looked suspiciously at the arm Ichigo had around Orihime's shoulder. "Are you Ichi-nii's girlfriend?"

Orihime wasn't really sure what to say. They hadn't really talked about what they were. She had wanted to bring it up numerous times, but she didn't have enough relationship experience to determine whether it was too early to define their relationship and she hadn't wanted to ruin what they had. Luckily, Ichigo saved her from having to answer. "Why do you care Yuzu?" He asked.

Yuzu puffed out her cheeks in annoyance. "I'm just curious! So is she or isn't she?" Ichigo ignored her and turned his attention back to the TV. Yuzu sighed and took a seat on the couch next to Ichigo. They watched the music videos in silence and soon they were joined by Karin.

After a few minutes, Karin broke the silence. "Wow Ichi-nii. Is this your idea of a date? Inoue must be bored out of her mind!" Karin criticized.

"Oh no Karin-chan! I'm not bored! Besides, I would much rather spend time with Ichigo-kun than do pageant stuff."

Ichigo removed his arm from around Orihime. "So hanging out with me is the lesser of two evils?" He asked bitterly.

Orihime's eyes widened in shock. Was he really going to do this in front of his sisters? She wanted to make a good first impression on them. "You are twisting my words." She said weakly. She flashed him a look that clearly said 'drop it'.

He didn't relent. "Then what were you trying to say?" His tone was cold.

"I was trying to say I enjoy spending time with you." When his expression didn't soften she took to staring at her hands.

Yuzu looked between her brother and Orihime before standing up. "Karin, will you help me in the kitchen?"

Karin leaned further back into the couch and rested her eyes on Ichigo and Orihime. "Honestly, I'd rather watch this." Yuzu ignored Karin's reply and dragged her twin to the kitchen.

Orihime watched the twins go before turning back to Ichigo. "Do you really think I'm using you? Do you think I'm that kind of person?"

"You don't seem like that kind of person, but with all this pageant experience you obviously know how to appear as people want you to be. So how am I supposed to know who you really are?" They engaged in a battle of will for a few seconds as both teens refused to break eye contact.

Orihime looked away first since she could feel tears welling up in her eyes and she didn't want him to see her cry. She shut her eyes tightly and turned her face away from him. "If you don't trust me then maybe we are both wasting our time in this relationship, or whatever this is." She stood from the couch and grabbed her purse from the coffee table. "Can you take me home Kurosaki-kun? I don't feel well."

He winced at being demoted from Ichigo-kun to Kurosaki-kun. How had everything unraveled so quickly? Why couldn't he just keep his big mouth shut? She started to walk toward the door but he grabbed her hand. She refused to turn around and look at him. "I'm sorry. I do trust you." She allowed him to pull her back onto the couch. He took both of her hands in his and waited until she made eye contact with him before speaking again. "Can we just pretend I didn't say anything? Please?" She just stared at him.

Ichigo quickly glanced around to make sure his family was nowhere in sight. When he didn't spot any of them, he leaned forward and tenderly kissed Orihime. He could tell she was fighting her urge to respond, but he just pressed harder and soon she started eagerly responding to his kisses. He broke away from her and rested his forehead against hers. "I'm sorry." He repeated.

"It's okay. I don't blame you for being suspicious. But I'm really nothing like my mom. I'm with you because I like you, no ulterior motives." She promised. He smiled and caressed her cheek. This time, she leaned forward and kissed him. After a few minutes, they were interrupted by Yuzu's loud shout that dinner was ready.

Isshin gave Ichigo a sly look when he noticed the teens' kiss swollen lips as they entered the dining room, but thankfully he didn't say anything. Dinner went by smoothly. No one even commented on Orihime adding wasabi to her mashed potatoes. All the Kurosakis seemed to like Orihime, especially Isshin. Ichigo couldn't help but watch suspiciously, but it didn't seem like Orihime was putting any extra effort into impressing his father so he let it go.

"Anybody up for dessert? We have ice cream mochi." Orihime was about to tell Yuzu that she was full when everyone was startled by loud honking from outside.

Ichigo stood. "That must be Ishida." He walked to the window. "One second!" He yelled at his friends before sprinting up the stairs. He came back down seconds later with two jackets. "Here Orihime." He handed her a jacket. "The concert is outside and it doesn't start till 7 so it might be cold. This is my soccer letter man jacket from middle school so it might almost be small enough for you." She felt a strange sense of pride as she slipped on the jacket with 'Kurosaki #15' emblazoned on the back. Even though it was old, it was still too big on her. The jacket almost covered her denim shorts and the sleeves covered her tiny hands. He rolled up the sleeves for her before he slipped on a black hooded sweatshirt.

He grabbed her hand. "I'll be back late Dad!" He shouted as they headed for the front door.

"Have fun!" Isshin yelled as Ichigo and Orihime disappeared out the front door.

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The concert was actually supposed to be this chapter but this was already longer than all my other chapters so concert will actually be next chapter. Thank you to all the reviewers! I love reviews and they motivate me to write so keep the reviews coming! I'll try to update soon.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Well, here is chapter 5! This will probably be the last update for awhile since I have to move across the country for college and I'll probably be really busy. Definitely not looking forward to that. Ugh. I hate school. Anyway, on with the chapter!

Disclaimer: I wish I owned Bleach. If I had that kind of money I wouldn't have to go to college. Alas, I own nothing.

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"What are you doing Kurosaki? This van only seats 8 people!" Ichigo ignored Ishida's protests and awkwardly maneuvered past Rukia and Renji to the window seat while dragging Orihime behind him.

Once seated, he gestured for Orihime to sit on his lap, but she hesitated. "I don't really feel comfortable about sitting on you Ichigo-kun, I'm kinda heavy. Maybe I could just squeeze in here…." Orihime squeezed into the tiny space between Ichigo and Rukia. She shifted uncomfortably as Ichigo's seat belt dug into the side of her thigh.

Ichigo forcibly pulled her into his lap, ignoring her squeal of surprise. "Are you kidding? What do you weigh, a hundred pounds?" Orihime blushed but didn't object to being placed on his lap.

"I'm serious Kurosaki! First off, it isn't safe for her to be riding without a seatbelt, and I don't want to get a ticket either! It's illegal to ride in a car without a seatbelt!" Ishida argued from the driver's seat as he watched them through the rearview mirror.

Ichigo draped his arms around Orihime's waist. "I'll hold on to her, don't worry about it. And how likely are you to get a ticket? Just calm down and drive us to the damn concert Ishida."

Ishida turned around to glare at Ichigo. "Why don't you just take her with you on your motorcycle?"

Ichigo returned the glare. "I don't have 1950 yen for parking. And why should we both pay parking when we're going to the same place? That would be stupid."

Ishida looked like he was about to retort, but the girl with short black spiky hair in the passenger seat rested a calming hand on Ishida's arm. "Do you two have to fight about everything? Let's just go before they run out of parking spots all together."

Ishida grumbled under his breath, all Orihime managed to catch was 'orange haired prick', before turning forward and starting the car. Orihime bit her lip and wrung her hands nervously as she glanced toward the driver's seat. "I'm sorry for being such an inconvenience Ishida-kun. I didn't realize your car was already full. I would have just stayed at Ichigo-kun's house if I'd known."

Ishida glanced at Orihime through the rearview mirror and she noticed the cold stare coming from behind his glasses seemed to soften. "Don't worry about it. It's not your fault. The only one who should be blamed is Kurosaki. But your apology is appreciated." Ishida caught a glimpse of Orihime's appreciative smile before he returned his attention to the road.

"So Ichigo, are you going to introduce us to your pretty new friend?" The girl in the passenger seat questioned.

"Oh yeah." Ichigo replied absently. "Orihime, this is Tatsuki. I've known her since forever. Tatsuki, Orihime." He introduced. He then turned his attention to the two people seated beside him in the van. "This is Rukia, and the guy with the tattoos is Renji." Rukia smiled at her while Renji just offered her a nod.

Ichigo twisted until he could point to the three people in the row behind them. "You already know Keigo and Chad, and that is Mizuiro." Mizuiro glanced away from the cell phone he had been texting on to smile at Orihime. She returned the smile. "And you already know that bastard is Ishida." He finished the introductions and turned his attention back to the front of the van.

"Hi. I'm Inoue Orihime. Nice to meet all of you."

_

_

_

Orihime seemed to hit it off with all of Ichigo's friends, especially Tatsuki. Ichigo noted that by the time they made it to the concert it seemed as if the two were best friends who had known each other for years. They had a surprising amount of things in common for two girls who seemed to be complete opposites.

Rukia seemed to like her as well; they both shared an unusual fascination with Chappy the Rabbit. Although Ichigo would have rather died than admitted it, Rukia was probably the closest thing to a best friend he had ever had and her opinion mattered so he was glad she seemed to like Orihime.

Renji liked her too. She had commented on how cool his tattoos were and how she had always wanted a fairy on her ankle. He had launched into a long story about what all his tattoos meant, everyone else seemed bored but Orihime listened attentively and found everything Renji said fascinating.

Ichigo noticed the only one who seemed uncomfortable with Orihime was Ishida. Every once in a while he would raise his eyes from the road and look at her warily through the mirror. Ichigo wasn't exactly surprised; Ishida was a loner by nature and took a long time to warm up to people. Ichigo himself didn't really consider Ishida to be one of his friends; he was more an acquaintance than anything. But eventually, Orihime even won Ishida over.

"How much do we owe you for parking Uryuu?" Tatsuki asked as they waited in line to park.

"Well, its 1950 yen, there are 9 of us, so everyone needs to pay……216.67 yen." Ishida calculated.

Orihime leaned forward from her spot in Ichigo's lap to peer at Ishida. "Wow Ishida-kun, you did that in your head?" Orihime asked, obviously astonished.

Ishida blushed and adjusted his glasses, a nervous habit of his. "I'm pretty good at math." He stated.

"Wow! Math was always my worst subject! You must be really smart Ishida-kun." Orihime praised.

Ichigo scowled. He didn't appreciate the way Ishida's face seemed to light up at Orihime's praise. "Well, as _impressive_ as that was, you're dividing it wrong. I told you I don't have any money. So divide again by 7." Of course if he wasn't paying, Orihime wasn't paying either.

"You can't do that Ichigo-kun! Everyone else shouldn't have to pay our portion. I'll pay for us." Orihime said determinedly. Before he could protest, she had already pulled the money out of her purse and handed it to Tatsuki, who was collecting all the money from everybody.

Keigo chuckled from the back seat. "So you found yourself a sugar mama Ichigo? I wish I could find a girl to pay for stuff for me."

"Shut up Keigo." Ichigo couldn't help but lament on Keigo being too far away to punch in the face.

_

_

_

The group of teens had just gotten settled at the park and found an area of grass to call their own when the tranquility was interrupted by a voice. "Ichigo!" The orange haired teen and all his friends turned at the sound of his name to see Ichigo's ex-girlfriend Senna approaching them.

Reflexively, Ichigo removed his arm from around Orihime's shoulders and took a step away from her as Senna drew near. Orihime frowned slightly but didn't say anything. "Hey Senna." Ichigo greeted.

Senna smiled at him. "I sort of thought you would be here. After all, I learned about this band through you." Ichigo returned the smile and Orihime started to feel uncomfortable. Senna finally noticed Orihime for the first time. For a second, her pretty expression reverted to a slight frown but she quickly regained her pleasant smile before anyone noticed. "Who is this Ichi?"

Orihime wasn't sure if he was wincing at the nickname or the prospect of introducing her to his ex-girlfriend. "Her?" He scratched the back of his neck nervously before continuing. "This is my…" He struggled for the right word "…friend Orihime."

Senna smiled at her. "Hey. I'm Senna. How do you guys know each other? Do you go to school with us or something?"

Orihime opened her mouth to answer but Ichigo beat her to it. "No. She's home schooled. We know each other through my job."

Senna looked at Orihime sympathetically. "Home school huh? That must really suck. How do you even make friends? The most important part of school is learning to socialize. And you miss out on field trips, dances, all that good stuff." Senna finished.

"Home school really isn't all that bad. I get to work at my own pace, build my own curriculum, and statistically kids that are home schooled do better in college." Orihime replied automatically. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Ichigo scowling at her 'pageant answer'. In all honesty, although she was technically home schooled, her mom insisted that she didn't need to be educated since she was pretty and she hadn't learned much of anything since her mom pulled her out of school two years ago.

"Oh really? Well that's cool, I guess." Senna said before returning her attention to Ichigo and starting a conversation with him. Orihime distanced herself from Ichigo and went to stand by Tatsuki, who had retreated with the rest of the group after Senna came over.

Renji scoffed as he watched Senna laugh loudly at something Ichigo had said. "Look at him. How pathetic."

"Is he ever going to get over her? She's been stringing him along since they broke up last year." Rukia added.

Orihime twirled a strand of hair worriedly. "What do you mean?" She asked Rukia.

"She means Kurosaki is a jerk who most girls won't put up with so he clings to those who will." Ishida explained.

Tatsuki smacked Ishida upside the head playfully. "Be nice." She patted Orihime's head in a friendly manner. "Don't worry about it Orihime. Every once in a while, Senna will make Ichigo think they're getting back together but it never actually happens. I think she just likes knowing that if she ever wants him he'll be there."

Orihime frowned. "That isn't very nice."

Chad placed a reassuring hand on Orihime's shoulder. "Don't let her scare you off."

"Yeah." Keigo added. "You and Ichigo make a much better couple than Senna and Ichigo."

Orihime sighed sadly. "We're not technically a couple. Didn't you hear him introduce me as his friend?"

"Well if you're still single, how about you and me?" Before she knew it, Keigo had knocked Chad's hand off her shoulder and replaced it with his arm.

Mizuiro pulled Keigo away from her. "Knock it off Asano-san."

"Why are you being so formal? I thought we were supposed to be best friends!"

While the group was distracted by Keigo's antics, Orihime decided to slip off to the bathroom.

_

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_

Although Ichigo was paying attention to Senna, she didn't have his undivided attention like she normally would have. Throughout their conversation, he kept an eye on Orihime. His fists clenched when Keigo touched her. Why couldn't he just find his own girl? He was contemplating stomping over there and giving Keigo a piece of his mind, but luckily for Keigo this was avoided when Mizuiro pulled him away before Ichigo had to do it himself. He was so absorbed in watching Orihime that he missed what Senna said.

"What?" He questioned.

"I said me and Yuu broke up." Senna repeated.

Normally, Ichigo would have been overjoyed at such news, but right now he found that he didn't really care. "Oh."

Senna frowned at his lack of response but continued anyways. "Yeah. Yuu just couldn't compare with you. Ichi, do you still have feelings for me?"

A week ago, his answer would have been a resounding yes, but now he wasn't sure of his feelings. He had loved Senna more than anything, but did he love her now? Instinctively, he found himself looking for Orihime but he realized she had disappeared. He refocused on Senna. He suddenly felt very uncomfortable. "Senna…I…" He spotted a flash of auburn hair before she was cornered by two big college aged guys. Senna watched flabbergasted as he walked away without another word.

"What is a pretty girl like you doing walking around by yourself?" The tall university student asked.

"I'm not by myself. I'm here with some friends." Orihime tried to spot the group, but more people had arrived for the concert and she couldn't spot any familiar faces.

"Is your boyfriend here too?" The shorter bleached blonde student asked.

"Uhmm…..yeah, he actually is..he is probably looking for me…." Orihime stuttered. She wondered why she couldn't lie in real life as easily as she could if she was standing on a stage in a glitzy dress and make-up in front of a panel of judges.

The taller student laughed. "You aren't a good liar sweetheart. Since you don't have a boyfriend how about giving me a chance? You might like me."

"Back off. She said she wasn't interested." Ichigo shoved the guys aside before grabbing Orihime's hand and heading back towards his friends. He was surprised when Orihime forcibly pulled her hand from his. He turned towards her in surprise.

"Do you want to be with Senna?"

"What kind of stupid question is that?"

"The answer is either yes or no."

He ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know." He admitted. At the hurt look in her eyes, he quickly elaborated. "I did want to be with her, but now that I have you, it's different."

"You're lying."

"What?"

"You introduced me as your friend because you did not want her to think you were unavailable."

"What do you want me to say Orihime? Me and Senna were together for 9 months. There is history there. And us….we've only been hanging out for four days. And what happens after the pageant? Does this go on once you already have my dad's vote and I have nothing left to offer you? I'm not going to ruin things with Senna and end up with nothing."

"I don't care about your dad's stupid vote!" Her eyes welled up with tears and she hastily wiped them with the sleeves of the jacket he had given her. She was about to angrily storm away from him when she was pulled into a hug. She knew it would be pointless to try to escape from his strong arms so she allowed him to hold her. Eventually she returned his hug while inwardly cursing her inability to stay angry at him.

He planted a kiss to the top of her head. "I'm sorry. Let's just try to enjoy the concert okay?" She nodded weakly against his chest. Once again, he took her hand and headed towards his friends.

_

_

_

Tatsuki looked around worriedly for Orihime. "It's getting dark. Where is she?" Just then, in the distance she spotted a shade of orange hair that could only belong to one person. "Ichigo, you idiot! While you were busy flirting with Senna, Orihime left and now we can't find her!" She yelled.

Ichigo glared at her. "I wasn't flirting with Senna. And Orihime is right here." Tatsuki glanced behind Ichigo where Orihime was waving at her sheepishly.

Orihime eeped as Tatsuki pulled her into a tight hug. "Don't scare me like that again! You can't just wander off by yourself in a dark park!"

Orihime smiled. It was nice having someone be so concerned with her whereabouts. "I promise I won't wander off again Tatsuki-chan."

"Hello Karakura!" The lead singer of the rock band shouted from the stage. This was met with thunderous applause. "We're going to start off with a particular favorite of mine." The band started playing one of their most popular songs and many of the people in the audience started singing along.

Rukia pouted as a tall guy suddenly moved in front of her, totally blocking her view of the concert. She tried in vain to see around him, even going as far as hopping in an attempt to catch a glimpse of the band over his head. Renji chuckled as he watched her. She sent him a death glare. "Something funny?" She asked, in a tone clearly indicating the wrong answer could result in death.

"It must suck to be that short. What are you? 4'5?"

"I'm 4'9! 4'9!" She punctuated her statement with a kick to Renji's shin.

He doubled over in pain. "You bitch!" Rukia just smiled proudly before going back to attempting to see the concert.

Chad, who had been watching this whole exchange silently, suddenly lifted Rukia onto his shoulders. "Better?" He asked.

"Much." Rukia replied. Now, she had a perfect view of the concert.

Chad glanced to his left, where Orihime was also having some trouble trying to view the concert. "Do you want to sit on my shoulders too Orihime?"

"You could carry us both?" Orihime asked. Chad nodded and adjusted Rukia so she sat on his right shoulder. He reached for Orihime but Ichigo signaled for him to stop. He was somewhat surprised by his feelings of possessiveness, but he knew he didn't want Chad touching her.

"I got her." Before she knew it, Orihime was suddenly on Ichigo's shoulders and his hands were resting on her bare legs. He felt the goose bumps on her legs and absent mindedly started running his hands up and down her legs. He didn't notice her blush. "You're cold." He stated.

"I'm fine." She insisted.

After an hour and a half, the band had finished and people began filing out of the park. Ichigo crouched and Orihime stepped off his shoulders. She smiled at him happily. "That was a lot of fun Ichigo-kun! Thanks for inviting me."

"You don't have to thank me. I'm glad you were here." Ichigo replied. He offered her his hand and once their fingers were intertwined, they followed the rest of the gang to Ishida's car.

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Hmm…I feel like this chapter was kind of slow. I know it may seem like it didn't really advance the plot, but Orihime's relationship with Ichigo's friends will be important later on.

This story gets way more hits than reviews. : ( Thank you to everyone who did review though! Especially the people who review consistently. It really inspires me to write!

Now reviewer responses:

**Twi-Hoster girl**- Don't they make a cute couple! You'll have to keep reading to see what Aizen is up to! Thanks for reviewing!

**Fostersb**- Ichigo can be a jerk sometimes but we know he means well. : ) Hopefully, I can keep making Aizen creepier with every chapter. Thanks for reviewing!

**xXSnowfeltXx**- I don't really mind flames. And his/her flame did raise the number of reviews. : P. Thank you for reading and reviewing! Hopefully you'll like this chapter too!

So it might be awhile for the next update since summer is over. Please review!!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Hello readers! I'm sorry that it has been awhile. College is really kicking my butt. I really hope these aren't the best years of my life, because college kind of sucks. I'm already counting down the days until summer vacation. Anyways, here is chapter 6!

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or any of the characters.

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"What is taking you guys so long?! Do I look like someone with a lot of patience?! This pageant is broadcasting live all over Japan in seven days! SEVEN DAYS!! I don't have time for this! Hurry up and get the mirrors up so you can fix the spotlight before the reporter from the Karakura Times gets here! I don't want her to think this is some amateur production. Understood?" Mayuri asked Chad, Keigo, and Ichigo.

Keigo mock saluted. "Yessir!"

Mayuri obviously realized Keigo was mocking him, but he just flashed an exasperated expression at Keigo before stalking off toward the stage, Nemu trailing behind him obediently.

"For the chump change he's paying us he should be thankful we do anything at all." Ichigo mumbled. Keigo nodded in agreement while Chad just shrugged before picking up the biggest mirror and heading towards the dressing room. Keigo and Ichigo followed his example.

"Ichigo-kun, can I talk to you?"

Ichigo glanced at Orihime over his shoulder as he readjusted the heavy mirror he was carrying. "Can it wait? I'm kinda busy."

Orihime bit her lip and wrung her hands nervously. She had trouble meeting his gaze so she focused her stare on his tennis shoes. "It is kind of important…"

Ichigo carefully set down the mirror and stepped towards Orihime. He grabbed her hand and gently pulled her toward an isolated corner backstage. "Okay. I'm listening."

Orihime briefly met his gaze before once again refocusing her grey eyes elsewhere. He noticed that her eyes were beginning to tear up.

"Orihi-"

"We have to break up." Orihime quickly stammered.

Ichigo looked at the auburn haired beauty queen in total shock. He definitively hadn't seen this coming. Weren't they having fun together? Although they had only been together for a week, it had been one of the best weeks of his life. No matter what they were doing, he always had such a great time when he was with her. He hadn't felt this carefree in years. What the hell had he done? Why was she doing this? He shook his head to clear his thoughts. "What did you say?" He questioned. He winced when he heard how broken his voice sounded.

Orihime still refused to look at him, and when she spoke he realized this wasn't any easier for her than it was for him. "Some of the other contestants are starting to talk. They're saying that I have an unfair advantage because of you. They are trying to get me disqualified from the pageant. All the rumors got back to my mom and…." She trailed off, but he understood where this was going.

"So she doesn't want you seeing me anymore." Ichigo concluded.

"But after the pageant, we can-"

"Orihime, you know your mom isn't going to let you see me after the pageant."

"But she doesn't have to know! We can just be sneaky about it and-"

"Why don't you just stand up to her? Don't you think we have something worth fighting for?"

"Ichigo-kun, you don't understand."

"No. I don't understand. And I can't just sit by and let your mom destroy your life. I care about you, I want the best for you."

The tears that had been welling up in her eyes throughout the conversation started to fall down her cheeks. Ichigo reached out and wiped her tears away with his thumb, in the process exposing a smidge of purple bruised flesh beneath her right eye.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

_"Where do you think you are going?"_

_Orihime glanced back from the door to find her mother sitting on the couch in front of the TV. Orihime realized she should probably step away from the door, but her hand remained firmly planted on the doorknob. There was a few seconds of tense silence before Orihime answered._

"_I'm going to a friend's house."_

"_Ichigo's?" Orihime didn't like the tone her mother used while saying Ichigo's name._

"_No. I'm going to my friend Tatsuki-chan's house." She really wanted to just end the conversation there and catch her bus, but she knew better than to end any conversation before her mother decided the conversation was over._

_Her mother's icy stare became even icier, if possible. "And since when are you so popular?_

_"I met Tatsuki-chan through Ichigo-kun. They grew up together."_

_"While we're on the topic of Ichigo, I want you to stop seeing him." Her mother stated matter of factly._

_"What?! Why?! I thought you wanted me to get his dad's vote!"_

_"I did. But having one vote isn't going to matter if you get kicked out of the pageant. The other moms are starting to talk and those hags are obviously up to something. They know their ugly ass daughters can't beat us, so they're going to use your relationship with Ichigo as an excuse to get rid of the competition."_

_"That's not fair! I like Ichigo-kun My relationship with him is much more important to me than this stupid pageant!"_

_Orihime's mother's grey eyes flashed dangerously as she stalked over to Orihime and gripped her daughter's arm tightly. "Don't be stupid. Men come and go. Do you think Ichigo is still going to want you twenty years from now when your looks start to fade? This pageant will provide lots of opportunities for us. When you win Miss Teen Japan we'll be set for life,"_

_Orihime managed to wrench her arm away from her mother. "Opportunities for us? This is all about opportunities for you! All you care about is yourself!"_

_The force of her mother's slap sent the petite beauty queen to the ground. Orihime clutched at her quickly bruising cheek and looked up at her furious mother with tear filled eyes. _

_Her mother was actually shaking with rage and she had to take several deep breaths before she could compose herself enough to speak. "You selfish little bitch. Do you know how much I've given up for you?! Do you think all this pageant shit is cheap? Listen bitch, I'm your mother and you'll do as I say. I'm going to be at every pageant rehearsal from here on out and if I see you say a single word to Ichigo you'll regret it. Am I making myself clear?" _

_Orihime nodded slowly. Her mom smiled. "Good. And you're not going out to meet Tatsuki today. I think we need to spend some quality time together. Put some ice on your cheek. I don't want you to bruise." With that said, her mom walked out of the living room and Orihime was left alone to cry._

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~end flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _

Orihime noticed Ichigo's eyes widen and then she noticed the concealer staining the tip of his thumb. She stared at him in horror for a second before she tried to wrench her face way from him, but he anticipated this movement and placed both his hands firmly on her cheeks to keep her from running away from him.

"Ichigo, don't." Orihime whispered but her pleas fell on deaf ears as Ichigo continued to calmly remove the concealer from her pale face. After several seconds that felt like hours to the orange haired pair, all the concealer was removed and Orihime's large purple bruise was exposed.

Ichigo removed his hand as he started to tremble with rage. "She hit you." He accused.

"It's not a big deal Ichigo-kun. Calm down. People are starting to stare."

Ichigo glanced around to see that many of the contestants had congregated backstage and were now staring at him. But he didn't care what they thought of him and he was rapidly losing the battle to control his rage.

"What do you mean it's not a big deal? Has this happened before?" He managed to lower his voice to an enraged whisper, not wanting to attract any more attention.

"Don't worry about it Ichigo-kun. She won't hit me again. It is too close to the pageant and she won't want me to have a bruise."

"Has she hit you before?" He reiterated forcefully.

"It doesn't matter! Please lower your voice. Everyone is staring." She nervously glanced around with frantic grey eyes as the girls started to whisper amongst themselves.

She refocused on Ichigo when he suddenly gripped her arm and pulled her into an empty storage closet, slamming the door loudly behind them. He fumbled for a few seconds looking for a light switch before they were bathed in flickering florescent light.

"I don't care about them. I care about you. I'm calling the police. Child abuse is a felony." The scowling teenager pulled out his cell phone but before he could dial 911, Orihime snatched the phone out of his grasp.

"Don't call any one! Don't tell any one! Let me deal with this. I can handle this. Promise me you won't say anything. Promise!"

"No. I can't do that. I'm going to protect you."

"Ichigo, if you say anything I swear to God that I will never talk to you again! I don't need you to protect me! Just back off!" Orihime shouted, angry tears rolling down her cheeks.

Ichigo's face darkened and he scowled. He regarded Orihime icily for a moment. "Fine. I'll back off."

Orihime was temporarily relieved but the relief was short lived. "You know what, maybe us breaking up is a good idea. Hell, we were never really together in the first place so this isn't really a break up anyway. Don't bother calling me after the pageant. We're over." Ichigo stated emotionlessly.

"Why?" Orihime asked.

"You wanted me to back off, I'm giving you what you wanted. I'm not just going to sit around waiting for when you think it is convenient for us to be together. I don't need another Senna." He turned away from her and reached for the door handle.

"This isn't what I wanted!" Orihime shouted at his retreating back.

"Well, this is how it is." He opened the door, but turned to look at her before leaving. "Don't worry. I won't say anything bad about you to my dad. You'll still win this stupid pageant." With that said, Ichigo left. Orihime silently wept alone in the closet.

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Although that was short and crappy, it was still better than nothing. Right? And thank you guys for reviewing! I love reviews and the reviews really inspired me to get this chapter out. I'll try to update again soon. Please review!

**16smiles**: Holy crap, I do the same thing! So then when my stories don't get close to 10 reviews per chapter I feel like my story sucks! Aaw! Thanks for the compliments!

**Animelover09**: I'm glad you like the story. Yeah, pageant girls can be pretty ctty, but I'm glad you had fun in some of your pageants! Thank you for the review!

**Twi-Hoster girl**- I'm glad you liked the chapter. But you probably won't like this one since they did split up, but the story is far from over! Thank you for reviewing!

**Blitch**- Well even if people don't review, It is still good to know that they are reading. : ). Thank you for reviewing and here is the update!

Enelya87-Wow, I can't believe you reviewed my fic! Your ichihime fic was definitively one of my favorites. I'm glad you're liking the story so far, and thanks for the well wishes with college. I'm going to need lots of luck to get through four years of this.

**Mayonaise**-Sorry it took me so long to update, but the new chapter is finally here! Thanks for reviewing!

**xXsnowfeltXx**- Ichigo really does lack emotional sensitivity, but he is nice to look at so I think he can get away with it. : ) Thanks for reviewing! Hopefully you'll like this chapter too!

**Fostersb**- I think you are my most consistent reviewer. : )Well, Nemu actually is already at the pageant as Mayuri's assistant, but you probably didn't notice because she doesn't have any lines. But maybe there will be some Ishida/Nemu in the future.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry it's been awhile, but I definitely intend to finish this story. Even if it takes awhile, it will be finished! Hopefully I can get it done this summer since I finally don't have to deal with school. One year of college down, two or three more to go! Thank you to all the readers, reviewers, and people who favorited/alerted.

I.

'_I don't miss her. I don't need her. She obviously doesn't need me so I don't need her either. I'm fine. I don't even care about her. And she obviously never cared about me to begin with. The pageant is only four days away and after that I'll never have to see her again.' _

While Ichigo was stuck in his own thoughts, Yuzu, Karin, and Isshin traded worried looks across the kitchen table as they watched Ichigo viciously cut his fish into many tiny pieces. The only sound in the Kurosaki family dining room was Ichigo's knife clanking loudly against his plate every time he cut through another piece of fish. The clanking stopped momentarily when Ichigo's fish was cut up beyond recognition, but before the family could enjoy the silence Ichigo quickly switched to smashing his rice with swift stabbing motions.

"Ichi-nii, is something wrong?" Yuzu finally mustered up the courage to ask.

Ichigo was so startled out of his reverie by Yuzu's question that he dropped his chopsticks. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and calmly picked up his chopsticks before responding. "Everything's fine."

Karin leaned back in her seat while gazing at Ichigo skeptically. "Really? Nothing is wrong? I couldn't help but notice that you've been moodier than ever for the last three days."

"I'm fine. Can you drop it?" Ichigo replied icily.

"Where is Hime-chan? She was over here all the time and now I never see her. Did you guys break up?" Isshin finally cut to the chase.

Ichigo went back to smashing his rice, refusing eye contact with everyone in the room. "We didn't break up. You have to be together in order to break up." His tone obviously indicated that the conversation was over, but his family chose to ignore that.

"What did you do to poor sweet Orihime-chan? I knew you would mess it up somehow. She was supposed to be my daughter-in-law but you ruined it!" Isshin complained. He soon started sobbing uncontrollably onto Yuzu's shoulder.

Isshin quickly removed his head from Yuzu's shoulder and snapped it toward Ichigo when his irate son slammed his hands down on the table, shaking everyone's dinner.

"Shut up old man! Just mind your own damn business! It's no big deal. She was just a girl I sort of liked and we hung out for a week and then it fizzled out. Alright? Seriously, I don't want to talk about it so just drop it." Ichigo stormed out of the room and left his family to digest what he had said.

II.

"Well, this is awkward." Keigo finally broke the silence between the three teenage boys sitting in tense uncomfortable silence in the back of the auditorium. Ichigo ignored his comment and continued to stare intently at Orihime up on the stage as she neared the end of her baton routine.

"Why don't you just suck it up and apologize for whatever you did? These past three days since you guys stopped talking you have been even moodier and angrier than usual and you're really starting to cramp my style." Keigo continued.

Orihime threw her sparkling baton high in the air for the final throw and performed a back handspring into a back tuck before triumphantly catching the baton and sinking into the splits. Several contestants and their family in the audience broke into applause, but Orihime's mother just continued to read her magazine. Orihime stood and took a bow while flashing a big smile to the audience. Her smile faltered when her grey eyes met Ichigo's for a split second. Her heart skipped a beat before he quickly broke the eye contact and turned toward Keigo. "I have nothing to apologize for. Shut your mouth when you have no idea what you're talking about. It's better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you're stupid rather than to open your mouth and let them know for sure." Ichigo retorted.

Just as Keigo was about to retort, Mayuri walked onto the stage. "Alright. After Inoue is Chizuru. Hurry up Chizuru! If this was the real pageant they would deduct points for tardiness."

Orihime slipped off the stage quietly and headed backstage to change into her beauty dress. She had lost the normal bounce in her step and it seemed as if every step toward the dressing room was a chore. If possible, she had been even more affected by the break-up than Ichigo. Her sad lonely life was finally starting to turn around and then just as suddenly as Ichigo had come into her life he was gone. The beauty queen sighed sadly as she stood in front of her beauty dress.

She carefully removed the pale blue gown from the hanger and draped it over her body as she stared at herself in the mirror. The dress was strapless and modest, only exposing a tasteful amount of cleavage. The dress's bodice was encrusted with rhinestones that sparkled in the fluorescent light. The bottom of the dress was loose and flowed well when she walked. She quickly took off her baton outfit and changed into the dress. Orihime was really glad the pageant was almost over. She didn't know how much longer she could be around Ichigo when they weren't even on speaking terms. The awkward tension was really starting to get to her.

"Orihime! Can you help me with my dress?" Michiru pleaded as she struggled to zip up her pale yellow dress. Orihime had been so caught up in her thoughts that she had failed to notice the rest of the contestants had come backstage and were also changing into their beauty gowns. While Orihime helped Michiru with the zipper, she noticed Loly struggling with her dress to their right.

Instinctively, Orihime walked over to Loly to try to help. As soon as she touched the zipper, Loly spun around and shoved her. "Don't touch me!" Loly screamed as she glared daggers at Orihime.

"I was just trying to help." The beauty queen replied meekly.

"I don't need your help! You know, I'm really sick of you looking down on everyone. You think you're some kind of God or something, don't ya?"

"What are you talking about? I was just trying to help you with your zipper!"

"You think everyone hasn't noticed? You walk around here like you're better than everyone. Just because you've won some low budget pageants doesn't make you the next Miss Japan."

Orihime gaped stupidly as Loly verbally assaulted her.

Loly smirked maliciously. "Nothing to say?" Loly walked closer to the red head until she was standing directly beside her. "Don't kid yourself. After Aizen-Sama gets what he wants from you he won't give you a second glance. You may be pretty, but you're lacking in the personality department. You definitely won't hold his attention for long. Don't cross me, princess. You'll live to regret it."

Orihime could only watch in shocked silence as Loly walked away to join Menoly on the other side of the dressing room.

III.

"Hiiiiiimmmmmeeee!" Chizuru leapt out of seemingly nowhere and enveloped Orihime in a bear hug. Huge crocodile tears began to roll down Chizuru's cheeks, causing her mascara to run and leave huge black trails down her face. "I'm going to miss you so much! Why is it so hard to say goodbye?"

"Chizuru-chan, I'm going to see you tomorrow at the pageant." Orihime replied.

"But every night away from my soul mate tears my heart to pieces!" Chizuru sobbed. She released Orihime momentarily in order to loudly blow her nose and dab at her eyes with a tissue. "And what will happen after the pageant Hime? What will I do when I can't see your beautiful smiling face every day?"

Orihime rubbed Chizuru's back comfortingly. "I'm sure I'll see you at another pageant." Orihime reassured.

Chizuru's sniffles slowed down. "I wish you had a cell-phone, or access to a computer or something. It is so hard to get in touch with you." Chizuru replied.

Orihime gave her friend one last squeeze before maneuvering her way out of the hug. "Don't worry. We'll find some way to stay in touch. I have to go, but I'll see you tomorrow!"

While she had been consoling Chizuru, the majority of the contestants had disappeared leaving the auditorium eerily silent. Orihime's sneakers squeaked loudly as she walked through the abandoned hallways. With the silence all around her, Orihime had nothing to distract her from the thoughts of Ichigo that constantly plagued her mind. The beauty queen's eyes automatically started to tear up and she worriedly bit her lip as she contemplated the very real possibility that she would never see Ichigo again after the pageant was over tomorrow. They still weren't on speaking terms, although she had tried to talk to him on numerous occasions over the last few days. Each time, he had left before she could get past 'Ichigo-kun.'

'_Maybe I should just give up. Where could this relationship possibly go anyway? If I win, I'll be so busy preparing for the Miss Japan contest that I'll never have time to see him anyway. And if I lose, my mom will blame it on Ichigo distracting me and she will watch me more closely than ever to make sure I never see him again. It would probably be better for him if he just moved on. But…I don't know if I can just let him go. Am I being selfish?_'

Before she could dwell too much in her thoughts, she was startled by the sound of glass smashing and a thud. Orihime picked up her pace until she rounded a corner and found the source of the disturbance. Orihime stealthy walked toward Aizen's office where she could hear two voices engaged in a heated conversation. The door was slightly ajar so Orihime plastered herself against the wall where she couldn't be seen but she could still hear.

"Who do you think you are to give me an ultimatum? You clearly do not know who you are dealing with." Aizen angrily hissed. Curious, Orihime boldly repositioned herself where she could sneak a peak into the room. What she saw was shocking.

Aizen had slammed Loly against a floor length mirror, explaining the sound of breaking glass, and had a rough grip on her arms as he continued to hold her against the mirror. Loly truly looked as if she feared for her life, but underneath her fear Loly almost seemed to be turned on by Aizen's psychotic behavior.

Aizen sighed before releasing one of Loly's arms. He placed a hand on her cheek and then slowly leaned in to engage her in a lingering kiss. Orihime had to clasp her hand over her mouth to stifle her shocked gasp. After a few moments, Loly started to return the kiss but Aizen pulled away. "Loly, darling. You know our relationship has always been very consensual. How do you think your parents would feel? What will daddy think about his little girl when he finds out what you've been up to? Besides, it would be your word versus mine. Who will they believe? Disgruntled pageant contestant or respected entrepreneur? I know you're not going to say anything because you're completely in love with me. You don't want me to go to jail, now do you?" Aizen asked.

Loly's eyes began to brim with tears. "Why can't you love me? Why am I not good enough for you?"

Aizen smiled charmingly. "Don't feel bad Loly. No one is good enough for me.

Suddenly, Loly became angry. "I swear to God if that red-headed whore wins this pageant I will tell the authorities about our relationship. And you'll go to jail pedophile." Loly threatened.

Aizen smirked. "You don't scare me Loly. Do you honestly think you're the first? Did you think you were special? I can't help that I like them young. You weren't the first and you won't be the last. If I haven't been punished yet what makes you think anything is going to change now? I know exactly what I'm doing and I don't intend to ever serve any jail time. You need to learn to move on. I've moved on to bigger and better things and I'm no longer interested in you. I know you hoped you could re-spark our romance by competing in this pageant, but you have obviously failed."

"It's that bitch Inoue isn't it? It's because of her that you're done with me." Loly accused.

Aizen released Loly and walked over to his desk. He placed both hands in his pockets and nonchalantly turned away from Loly to stare out the window. "She does intrigue me." Aizen replied.

"She's nothing special." Loly countered bitterly.

"You're entitled to your opinion. But I disagree. I'm pretty certain she's the next Miss Japan."

Aizen finally turned away from the window and strode back toward Loly. "Do you know why I got involved in beauty pageants in the first place?" Aizen took Loly's silence as a no and continued. "Beauty pageant contestants have very low self esteem. When you are constantly being judged and compared to other girls, it really messes with one's psyche. All it takes is a few kind words and I have them wrapped around my finger. Another plus is how eager beauty pageant girls are to please." Aizen concluded with a lewd smile.

"You're sick." Loly hissed.

"I think we're done here. Get out of my office." Aizen said dismissively before seating himself at his desk and shuffling through paperwork.

Orihime quickly but quietly ran from the office before she was caught eavesdropping.

IV.

Ichigo tried to concentrate on the summer math assignment, but he was having a lot of trouble concentrating when Tatsuki was shooting him a look that could kill. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye before turning back to the problem. He began to chew on the back of the pencil nervously when Tatsuki's look still hadn't softened 5 minutes later. He sighed before setting down his pencil on the coffe table and turning toward Tatsuki. "What?"

Tatsuki seemed to get even angrier, if possible. "You know what, you selfish bastard."

"Look. I'm glad you made a new friend but I think you should remember where your loyalty lies. I mean, you've known me for over ten years and now you're taking her side even though you've only known her for a week." Ichigo complained.

Tatsuki rolled her eyes. "Grow up Ichigo. Deep down you know you're wrong."

Ichigo glared at Tatsuki as he struggled to control his temper. "I don't know what Inoue told you-"

"Oh, she's been downgraded to Inoue now!" Tatsuki interrupted.

"As I was saying, I don't know what she told you but I'm sure it wasn't the whole story. Just leave it alone Tatsuki. I'm not going to make you choose or anything but I don't want to talk about her or see her ever again." Ichigo said.

"You're an idiot. You do know you're never going to find another girl like her don't you?" Tatsuki questioned.

Ichigo ignored her and went back to his homework.

"Tomorrow could be your last chance to fix this whole mess. You'll have no way to get in touch with her after tomorrow. So make a decision. Do you want to keep being stubborn and make both you and Orihime miserable or do you want to be mature and admit that you made a mistake?" When Ichigo continued on with his work as if he hadn't heard her, Tatsuki sighed and gathered her things. "I'm gonna go. Think about it."

Tatsuki softly shut the door to the Kurosaki house behind her and started home. _'I really hope that knocked some sense into that stubborn idiot.'_

author's note:

Well, I'm not thrilled with it, but I'm glad I finally got that chapter done. Next chapter is finally the pageant so that should be a fun one to write! I haven't updated in so long that I'm sure no one remembers what they wrote so I'll just skip review responses this time. Please review! P.S. apparently, has changed the way you can put in dividers so sorry if the scene changes were confusing.


	8. Chapter 8

I.

As sunlight suddenly streamed into her bedroom, Orihime instinctively rolled away from the light and pulled the blue covers over her head. The beauty queen was starting to slip back into slumber land when the covers were pulled off of her and the sunlight forced her to slowly open her eyes.

As her vision cleared, Orihime saw her mother standing above her with a large grin. The auburn haired beauty had to resist the urge to squeeze her eyes shut. "Rise and shine!" Her mother greeted cheerfully. The stage mom practically skipped to the other side of the room to pull back the curtains on the second window in the room. More sunlight illuminated the small room and Orihime's mother let out a happy sigh. "What a beautiful day to win a pageant!" She exclaimed.

Orihime forced herself to sit up and tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes. Once her vision was focused, the tired young woman reached for her alarm clock. 5:30 flashed in red block numbers. She returned the clock to its proper place on her nightstand between several pageant crowns.

The entire room was filled with glittery crowns and trophies. There were shelves mounted on every wall and once they had run out of shelf space the trophies had to be placed on tables, and eventually most of the floor. Besides pageant related things, the room was completely bare. No posters, no paint, no pictures, nothing that expressed the essence of Orihime.

"Why are you still in bed? Get up! You need to eat breakfast and then Neliel is coming over to do your hair and make-up." Her mother exclaimed as she impatiently tugged on Orihime's arm to get her out of bed.

Orihime begrudgingly got out of her warm comfortable bed and dragged herself to her bathroom. The young woman flipped the light switch and was temporarily blinded by the fluorescent lighting. She blinked sleepily several times before her eyes adjusted. Orihime rested her hands on the counter and composed herself for a few moments. '_Here we go again. Pageant day. How many pageants have I been in? Is this really all there is for me? ' _The auburn haired beauty queen looked at her reflection in the bathroom mirror and was shocked by how tired and sad she looked. _'Hopefully Neliel brought a lot of make-up.' _ She splashed some water on her face to wake herself up before reaching for her toothbrush.

II.

The toast that had been on its way to Orihime's mouth fell to the floor. Orihime nursed her stinging hand and shot an exasperated look at her mother. Her mother glared. "Don't look at me like that. You know better than to eat carbohydrates right before a pageant. As if you aren't fat enough already. Look at you, you're a blimp! There is no way you're winning swimsuit." Her mother retorted in a snide tone.

_'You could have just said that without slapping my hand.' _Orihime thought bitterly, but of course she kept her thoughts to herself. Suddenly, a high protein shake was thrust in front of the beauty contestant.

"Here. Drink this. It will fill you up and give you lots of energy." Her mother waited until Orihime took a sip of the disgusting concoction before leaving the room and continuing with packing outfits and accessories for the pageant.

Orihime gagged on the disgusting drink but forced herself to finish it in order to avoid her mother's wrath. She finished the smoothie with one last big gulp and then the doorbell starting ringing repeatedly.

One second, Orihime was unlocking the door and the next thing the pretty young woman knew she was lying on the floor. "Nel…." she rasped, "I'm happy to see you too but I can't breathe."

The enthusiastic blue haired make-up artist/hair stylist immediately released her favorite client. "I'm sorry! I'm just so happy to see you! It's been a long time! Who was doing your hair and make-up all this time? And why did your mom try to get rid of me anyway?"

"You know how my mom is. She didn't like that we were becoming friends so she cut you out of my life. We went through a lot of different people but mom wasn't satisfied with any of them. This pageant is really important to her so she decided she had to call you." Orihime explained.

"I see. What an evil witc- " Nel started but was interrupted by Ayako's sudden appearance.

"Neliel! How great to see you! You look great! How are you and your boyfriend doing?" Orihime's mother Ayako exclaimed cheerfully as she re-entered the living room carrying various hair products.

"Hi Fujita-san." Nel greeted unenthusiastically.

"Nel! How long have we've known each other? I feel like you're practically family! No need to be so formal, you can call me Ayako." The stage mom insisted.

"Alright…. Ayako" Nel said awkwardly. "Well, I've been doing well, found a lot of new clients and me and Nnoitra are doing okay. He still gets on my nerves sometimes but we're working on it." Throughout the conversation, Neliel had been unpacking her beauty supplies and as she pulled out a brush she gestured for Orihime to sit down in front of her so they could get started.

III.

3 hours later, Neliel had finished. The make-up artist stood in front of Orihime proudly as she surveyed her handiwork. "Looks really good Hime. Some of my best work. Take a look!" Neliel pulled a mirror out of her bag so Orihime could see herself.

Orihime's make-up looked flawless. Neliel had picked colors that complimented her skin tone perfectly and looked natural. Nel had applied false eyelashes so her eyes would pop on stage and silver eye shadow that made her grey eyes sparkle. The look was topped off with deep red lipstick that accentuated the fullness of her lips.

Orihime shifted the mirror so she could see her hair. Neliel had shampooed and conditioned her hair and put in some type of product that made it shiny and soft. Neliel had then put her hair in rollers that she was instructed to leave in until right before the pageant.

Neliel placed her head on Orihime's shoulder and both of their faces appeared in the mirror. Orihime saw Nel smile in the mirror's reflection. "You look beautiful Hime. Like a doll."

Orihime looked at her rosy doll-like cheeks and imagined herself on the stage. But she didn't see herself as a 16-year-old girl, she saw herself as she used to be. A tiny little girl doing as she was told. Dressed up in an uncomfortable sequined dress, walking carefully to avoid messing up her hair, blinded by the spotlight but still smiling in the general direction of the judges. Although the light was blinding, there was one person she could see clearly. Her mother. Suddenly, Orihime was yanked to the left, and then the right. Startled, she looked up and saw she was attached to strings, like a wooden puppet. Glancing up further, she saw that her mother had transformed into a giant and she was the one manning the strings. Suddenly, she was 16 again but still attached to the strings. And although her mother had to work a little bit harder to pull her around, her mother was still in control.

"I think I look more like a puppet." Orihime replied softly. Nel frowned but had no reply for the depressed beauty.

IV.

"And the winner of Miss Teen Karakura is…." A drum roll sounded as Orihime and the rest of the contestants waited anxiously on stage. "Inoue Orihime!"

The audience burst into applause as the former Miss Japan placed the crown on Orihime's head and handed her a beautiful bouquet of roses. Orihime fought back tears as she hugged the other contestants and the announcer before taking her final beauty walk and waving to the audience. Ichigo couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked. Her long silver gown caught the reflection of the spotlight and gave the beauty queen an unearthly glow as she glided across the stage. 'I can't lose her' He finally admitted to himself.

Before he could stop himself, he had run out onto the stage. He ignored the shocked gasps and the whispers from the audience as he approached the beautiful redhead.

"Kurosaki-kun, what are you doing?" Orihime asked nervously after Ichigo had blocked her path back to the center of the stage.

"Orihime, I'm sorry." He apologized.

"For what?" She asked.

"For everything. For not trusting you, for being a jerk, for ignoring you when you tried to talk to me, and mostly for breaking up with you in the first place. I get it now. Even though she treats you horribly, she's your mom. You don't have any other family and she has you so cut off from everything that you don't have a lot of options if you ever leave. She has you trapped, and beneath it all you still love her. I shouldn't have been so surprised that you didn't want me to turn her in. So I promise I won't tell anyone that she hits you. But you don't have to stay in an abusive household. You can come live with my family. I'm sure Yuzu, Karin, and my dad won't mind and we have plenty of room."

He took her hands in his. "So how about it? We can get out of here right now and you'll never have to do another pageant again."

She yanked her hands away from him. "Are you insane?" She asked haughtily.

Flabbergasted by her response, he could only respond with "What?"

"Hmmm…I guess I'm a better actress than I thought. I never had any real feelings for you Kurosaki. You were right, this was all about getting the votes. See this crown?" She pointed to the glittering silver crown on her perfectly curled hair. "I am Miss Teen Karakura. I'm going to Miss Teen Japan and once I win that I'm getting out of Karakura all together. With these looks, I can go anywhere and do anything. Why would I want to stay here with you when the whole world is at my feet?" Orihime smirked maliciously at his shocked expression.

"Poor, naive boy. I almost feel sorry for you. Well, it is what it is. Out of my way! I have a victory walk to finish." The petite beauty queen shoved him out of her way and he fell over the edge of the stage. As he fell, he saw her continue her walk, waving prettily to the audience.

"Orihime!" He yelled as he continued to fall into the black abyss.

V.

"Orihime!" Ichigo yelled as he woke up covered in sweat. He looked around frantically for a moment while he tried to figure out where he was. Once he realized he was still in bed, he took a moment to gain his bearings and then flopped down back onto his pillows. His breathing started to even out as he realized it was only a dream. No, not a dream, a nightmare. Orihime wasn't like that. She would never act like that. As much as he tried to convince himself, there was still a tiny part of him that felt his dream could be an indication of what could actually happen tonight at the pageant.

After his talk with Tatsuki, Ichigo couldn't stop thinking about Orihime. He knew today was going to be a turning point in their relationship. He could either leave things as they were now and after the pageant they would just go their separate ways, or he could try to mend their broken relationship and who knows what their future would be.

The only problem with trying to fix their relationship was it left him vulnerable. What if she decided it wasn't worth it? It would definitely be difficult to keep their relationship going, and after everything that had happened would she even want to fight for it anymore? Did he even want to fight for this relationship any more?

The teenager scowled and buried his head in his pillows. He needed more time. He couldn't make a decision under these time restraints. With his high level of anxiety, Ichigo knew there was no way he could fall back asleep so he reluctantly dragged himself out of bed.

VI.

"Gooooood moooooorning Ichigooooooo!" Isshin exclaimed as he launched himself at his only son.

Ichigo blocked his father's flying kick with one hand and as Isshin crumbled to the ground in a tangled heap the scowling teenager continued eating his cereal as if nothing had happened.

"Impressive, my boy. This early in the morning and your instincts are so finely tuned that you blocked daddy's kick. I have taught you well." Isshin praised as he wiped away joyful tears.

Ichigo just rolled his eyes. "Shut up old man."

Yuzu and Karin came down the stairs still dressed in their pajamas and yawning. "Why do you have to be so loud this early in the morning?" Karin asked while glaring at her father.

"Why are you so mean to daddy Karin? Don't you love your father? I love you more than anything but instead of returning my affection you-"

"Shut up." Karin and Ichigo chimed in unison.

"Ichi-nii, do you only want cereal? I'm about to make pancakes and eggs if you're still hungry." Yuzu asked as she rummaged through the refrigerator.

"Don't have time to stay for breakfast. I'm going over to Rukia's." Ichigo explained as he continued to stuff cereal into his mouth.

"You do know the pageant is today, don't you?" Isshin questioned.

"Of course I know. The pageant doesn't start until 5 and I don't have to be there until 3. I'm just going to hang out at Rukia's house for a few hours and then I'll head to the pageant." Ichigo retorted.

"All right. Just make sure you get there on time." Isshin warned as he took his seat at the table beside Karin.

Ichigo grabbed his keys from the counter and his backpack off the floor before heading to the door. "Yeah, yeah. I'll be there."

VII.

Orihime watched the scenery whirl past her window as her mother sped through the streets toward the pageant. It had suddenly started raining, which seemed appropriate due to the beauty queen's present mood. She sighed and leaned her head against the window as she watched the raindrops dance merrily on the car window before disappearing. She was so tired. After Orihime's mother approved of her hair and make-up, Nel had to go do the make-up and hair for a wedding party. The purpose of doing Orihime's hair and make-up so early was just to assure that it was what Orihime and her mom, mostly her mom, wanted. Once they got to the pageant, Nel was going to meet them there and quickly recreate the look.

After Nel had left, Ayako had shuttled Orihime off to the spa to get a manicure, pedicure, massage, mud bath, and facial. Although all this pampering should have been relaxing, her mother's constant pageant concerns and tips firmly reminded Orihime that this was not a fun mother-daughter bonding experience, this was work.

_ "You know, I think you should wink at the judges after your split during your routine. Catch the baton and then smile at the judges and wink. That will be cute." Her mother advised as she read a magazine and watched Orihime get her manicure. Orihime ignored her mother and stared at her hands as the beautician applied nail polish. _

_ "And make sure that during your beauty walk you stop, look over your shoulder at the judges, and then continue your walk. Are you listening to me?" Ayako questioned when she noticed her daughter's lack of attention. _

_ Orihime nodded and blankly listened as her mother continued with her unsolicited advice. _

By the time Orihime had finished all the spa treatments, it was already 2:00 and she absolutely had to be at the auditorium by 3:00 'or else', as Mayuri had warned. Which brings us back to the present, Orihime watching the rain through her window as her mother drove her to the auditorium.

Orihime had steadfastly repressed any thoughts about Aizen since she knew it would only increase her anxiety and there was nothing she could do about it, but the closer they got to the pageant the harder it was becoming to ignore what she had heard.

Aizen was a pedophile. Although his relationship with Loly seemed to be consensual, it was still illegal. And how young was his youngest conquest? When he had shown her his modeling book, some of the girls posing provocatively looked to be around nine or ten. It made her sick to think that maybe those girls had been involved with Aizen. Aizen was very charismatic and he was probably able to easily manipulate young girls into doing whatever her wanted. Orihime shuttered at the thought of how many girls he must have been able to victimize through his connection with beauty pageants.

The thing that disturbed Orihime the most was her inability to stop Aizen. She had no evidence and in a case of he said she said, Aizen would definitely win. Orihime clenched her fists tightly, cursing her powerlessness.

"Good, the rain is stopping." Ayako spoke suddenly as they were stopped at a red light. Orihime looked out her window and noticed that the sun was starting to peek out from behind the clouds and a rainbow was forming. As their car turned a corner, Orihime lost sight of the rainbow.

VIII.

"All who think Ichigo needs to grow a pair, get over himself, and win Orihime back, say I." Rukia stated suddenly.

"I." Chorused the entire room.

Ichigo, who had been on his way out the door to get to the pageant before Rukia's sudden declaration, whirled around to face his so called 'friends'. "What?" He managed to verbalize after several seconds of silence.

"You heard me. I like Orihime. We all like her. And so do you so get over yourself and apologize when you see her tonight." Rukia said.

Renji, Tatsuki, Ishida and Mizuiro, the only other occupants of the room, nodded their agreement.

Ichigo considered giving his nosy companions a piece of his mind, but his phone vibrating stopped him. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and saw he had a new message. '_Me & Chad just got here. Where r u_?' Ichigo quickly typed up '_On my way' _and sent it to Keigo before shoving his phone back in his pocket.

"I've gotta go. Are you guys coming to the pageant?" Ichigo asked, completely ignoring what his friends had just said.

"We'll all be there. As Inoue-san's friends, we obviously want to be there to support her." Ishida stated.

"Plus, it's not everyday that something big happens in Karakura." Renji added.

"Alright. See you guys later."

IX.

The closer it got to 5:00, the more stressed out and panicked Mayuri became. By 4:40, he seemed to be in the midst of a nervous breakdown. He paced backstage nervously and refused to stop although his pacing was making everyone anxious. He checked his watch for the thousandth time. "Twenty minutes! Twenty minutes and then we're live! Is everyone ready? I swear to God if anyone messes this up for me I don't know what I'll do." Mayuri threatened.

"Father" Nemu said quietly, "please clam down."

Mayuri glared at his assistant. "What did I tell you about calling me that?"

Nemu bowed slightly. "I'm sorry Mayuri-sama. My mistake."

Mayuri's glare didn't soften. "You disgust me. Do something useful for once and make sure everyone is ready for the opening number." Mayuri ordered.

"Yes fath-" Mayuri's glare caused Nemu to correct herself. "Yes Mayuri-sama." She bowed once more before shuffling off to check on the contestants. As Nemu approached Loly and Menoly, they smirked at her evilly.

Nemu steeled herself before stopping in front of the contestants. "I'm here to make sure you're prepared for the opening number." Nemu stated emotionlessly.

"Menoly, do you think she's going to cry?" Loly asked maliciously.

Menoly smirked. "She might Loly. But then again, She sort of reminds me on an emotionless robot so maybe she can't cry."

"I don't know Menoly. If my own father didn't love me, I think I might cry." Loly taunted.

Nemu stared at the two bullies with a blank expression, but inside she was starting to crumble. It seemed as if Loly and Menoly could sense they were starting to get to her since their evil smirks grew larger. Before they could continue with their taunting, Orihime walked up to Nemu, grabbed her hand, and led her away.

Orihime led Nemu to a stool in front of a vanity table. Once Nemu was sitting down, the kind-hearted contestant kneeled in front of her and took both her hands in hers. "Don't let Loly and Menoly get to you Nemu-san. They are mean girls and the only way they can feel good about themselves is by tearing other people down. They do not know what they are talking about. I can tell your father loves you, he just does not know how to express it."

Nemu was shocked. No one had ever gone out of their way to comfort her before. But she knew all about Orihime's mom. There was a certain connection between the two girls, they were both desperately striving for their parent's approval and both would probably never get it. Nemu returned Orihime's smile and gently squeezed her hand. "Thank you."

"15 minutes! Live in 15 minutes! Do you all have Vaseline on your teeth? You all better be smiling when you get out there. And if anyone misses a step I swear I will kill you!" Mayuri shouted.

Most of the contestants started to practice the opening routine. Orihime gave Nemu's hand one last squeeze before joining Chizuru and Michiru to practice.

X.

"Okay, that's the last of it." Chad said as he placed the last fake cherry blossom tree on the stage. They had been instructed to create Japanese countryside on the stage, so there were cherry blossom trees, cardboard mountains, and shiny blue paper that was meant to represent the ocean.

Ichigo, Keigo, and Chad glanced around the red curtain surrounding the stage and were shocked to see that the auditorium was completely full. They looked around for heir friends and saw that they had somehow gotten seats in the third row. The boys closed the curtain and took their respective places in the wings to wait for Mayuri's order to open the curtains.

Chad, being the biggest, had gone to the left side of the stage to handle half of the curtain by himself. Ichigo and Keigo had gone to the right side to pull up their half together. Ichigo pulled uncomfortably at the tie he was forced to wear. "Seriously, why do we have to wear tuxedos? No one is going to see us anyway." Ichigo grumbled.

"I think we look pretty awesome. Like the C.I.A. or something." Keigo remarked as he pulled some sunglasses on to complete the C.I.A look.

Ichigo rolled his eyes at his immature friend. "Can you even see?" None of the spotlights were on yet so the lighting in the room was very dim.

"Sometimes, you have to choose style over practicality." Keigo replied.

Ichigo checked his watch. Three minutes to show time. Just then, the contestants started to file past the boys to take their places on the stage. Ichigo subconsciously found himself searching for Orihime, but he couldn't tell any of the girls apart since they were all wearing matching blue kimonos with moons and the lighting was so dark. The girls took their places and froze in the opening pose. The boys startled when their headsets went off simultaneously. Mayuri's voice came through. "Open the curtains in 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1, NOW!" Mayuri ordered.

The boys tugged firmly on the ropes and the curtains opened smoothly. The audience applauded as the girls came into view. They remained in their frozen position and the spotlights remained off. Aizen walked onto the stage and several of his female admirers in the audience cheered loudly and directed catcalls at him. He stopped directly in front of Orihime and she involuntarily shivered at his proximity.

A spotlight turned on and illuminated Aizen. "Welcome to the first annual Miss Teen Karakura pageant! Thank you all for coming out tonight. I won't take up too much of your time, but I feel that there are a few things I must say. My name is Sōsuke Aizen and I am the owner and producer of the Miss Teen Karakura pageant. I also own a number of other pageants. I became involved with pageants because I enjoy being able to positively influence the life of a young girl. And by coming out tonight, not only are you supporting the community, you are helping girls everywhere. So thank you." Loud applause followed this announcement.

"Our opening act is a tribute to Japan. As you all know, blue is the national color of Japan. The sea that surrounds us and is very much a part of our identity is blue and blue is also symbolic of youth. So without further ado, I present to you, 'Blue'!" Aizen walked off the stage as the spotlight finally illuminated the contestants.

Slow traditional Japanese music sounded from the speakers as the girls finally unfroze and began to dance. They performed several elaborate, graceful hand movements before pulling fans out of their kimonos. All the girls opened their fans with a snap and began to perform tricks with the fans. They formed a circle with their backs to the audience, and tossed their fans from contestant to contestant in the circle while the circle rotated. The audience applauded as the girls made the catches. The circle broke up and the girls froze once more.

Suddenly, the music changed to something much more up-tempo and the girls ditched their kimonos and pulled their hair out of their buns to allow it to cascade down their backs. Underneath the kimonos, the girls wore sparkly blue shorts coupled with plain white tank tops with their names printed on them. Ichigo, Keigo, and Chad scrambled to collect the kimonos off the stage before the girls continued with a much different dance routine.

The dancing was now much more peppy and entertaining. The audience clapped along as the girls performed cartwheels, backhand springs, and tumbles. Those without acrobatic abilities twirled and hyped up the crowd. The dance reached its crescendo when the contestants lined up single file and performed the same movements 1 second after the person in front of them, creating a nice effect.

The girls broke out of the line and froze as they struck their finish pose and the music stopped. The audience broke into boisterous applause as the contestants filed off the stage to change for the swimsuit competition. The boys closed the curtain and then got to work clearing the stage of all the props.

The show's hosts walked out onto the stage while everyone hustled to prepare for the next event. "Hello Kakaura town! My name is Ichimaru Gin, and I used to be a popular TV personality."

His co-host giggled. "Gin! Why so modest? He still is a popular TV personality. He has many hosting jobs and is extremely successful."

Gin smiled at his beautiful co-host. "Stop, you'll make me blush with your over-the-top praise. This stunningly beautiful woman standing beside me is a former Miss Japan, and local Karakura resident, Matsumoto Rangiku."

"I was Miss Japan so long ago it seems like another lifetime. I feel so old surrounded by all these young beauties." Rangiku claimed with a smile.

Gin returned her smile. "I see, you're fishing for compliments. You know you're beautiful but you just wanted to hear me say it again." The audience laughed along with the hosts.

"I feel that we've gotten off topic. We can continue our flirting after the show. Now is the time to introduce our judges. First, you've already met Sōsuke Aizen." Rangiku said as the camera zoomed in on Aizen and he smiled charmingly.

"Next, we have Tia Harribel, another former Miss Japan." Gin introduced. Harribel just nodded when the camera zoomed in on her.

"Our next judge is former Karakura mayor, Yamamoto-Genryūsai Shigekuni." Rangiku chimed. The old man followed Harribel's example and nodded to the camera.

"Our next judge is the beautiful model originally from Karakura, Shihōin Yoruichi." Gin said. Yoruichi blew a sultry kiss to the camera and smiled.

"And last but not least, our final judge is local business man Kurosaki Isshin, who owns the Kurosaki clinic." Rangiku stated. Isshin, who knew it wasn't everyday he would be on TV smiled, winked, and motioned the 'call me' signal to the camera. Yuzu and Karin, who were watching at home, groaned and sank down into the couch in embarrassment.

"Now that we've met all our judges, time to get back to the competition! And first event is one of my favorites, swimsuit!" Rangiku exclaimed as the curtain raised, revealing a fake beach backdrop complete with beach balls and surf boards.

Nemu, standing in the wings with clipboard in hand, checked over the order one last time to reassure her self everything was going to plan. Satisfied, she gestured for the first contestant to go.

The contestants all took turns strutting their stuff on the runway as 'Scandal' by Shoujo S (bleach opening 10 : p) blared from the speakers. Eventually, the only two girls left waiting in the wings for their turn was Orihime and Menoly.

"Next is contestant number 4, Menoly!" Gin announced.

"Good luck!" Orihime chimed as her opponent started to leave.

Menoly turned and looked at her maliciously. "Break a leg. Literally." She replied with a smirk. As soon as she turned to face the judges, her smirk had been replaced with a radiant smile and she sauntered to the middle of the stage. She placed both hands on her hips as she stopped in the middle, then turned and walked off to the opposite wing.

"Thank you Menoly. And last, we have contestant number 15, Inoue Orihime!"

Orihime immediately turned on her game face and plastered on the biggest smile she could muster as she modeled her lime green bikini. When she reached the front of the stage, she took the sunglasses that had been perched on top of her head and put them on, smiling widely at the judges before executing a perfect beauty turn and sauntering off stage, her pig tails swaying along with her hips.

"Damn, Ichigo sure is an idiot." Renji muttered from his seat as he watched Orihime walk off stage. Rukia and Tatsuki glared at him, but Mizuiro and Ishida couldn't help nodding in agreement.

"Thank you Orihime. We're going to take a short commercial break and then we'll come back with the talent competition. Stay tuned!" Rangiku chimed with a wink.

XI.

"And…..cut. Alright girls, We have 3 minutes till show time. Chizuru, you're first so you better be ready." Mayuri said as the girls scrambled backstage. Neliel finished putting Orihime's hair into a stylish ponytail and after a final application of foundation, she gave Orihime the thumbs up to go get dressed.

"Chad!" Mayuri barked into his headset.

"Hmm?" Chad replied.

"Get the piano on stage pronto!" Mayuri ordered. He then switched frequencies so he could talk to Keigo. "Are all the beach props removed from the stage?" He asked.

"Yeah." Keigo replied as he wiped sweat from his brow. All this prop work was really draining.

Mayuri switched to Ichigo's frequency. "Help Nemu and start gathering the contestants. Make sure you have two waiting in the wings at all times. No excuses." Mayuri insisted.

"Fine." Ichigo replied, although inwardly he was balking at the prospect of being forced to be within five feet of Orihime. He checked the list he had been given. First he had to find, Chizuru, Loly, and…..Orihime. 'Great'. He thought bitterly.

Backstage was complete chaos. The girls were fighting over mirrors as they scrambled to get ready and clothes were strewn all over the floor. He bumped into several girls as he frantically searched for the three he needed. He spotted Chizuru applying mascara in the mirror. "You." Ichigo addressed as Chizuru turned to look at him. "You're next."

"I just need two more minutes." Chizuru stated as she returned to the mirror.

"We don't have two more minutes." Ichigo replied. He gently grabbed her arm and led her to the stage wing. On the way, he passed Loly who followed behind him without complaint as he headed to the wing.

Nemu, although outwardly calm, was beginning to get nervous when she realized the cameras would be turning on in a minute regardless of whether a contestant was ready to go on or not. Just then Ichigo appeared with Chizuru and Loly. 'Thank God.' Nemu thought. She rushed Chizuru on stage and then turned back to Ichigo. "We need at least two people here at all time. If Mayuri sees this we're both dead." She warned.

"I'm on it." Ichigo replied before going to search for his ex-girlfriend. He was beginning to think he was never going to be able to find her when he suddenly bumped into something. He instinctively wrapped his arms around whomever it was to keep from falling.

"Sorry." Orihime said instinctively before looking up to see whom she had bumped into. She gulped. "Kurosaki-kun."

"Inoue." He returned. "I've been looking for you. You need to be in line."

"Oh. Of course."

As they walked toward the stage wing, Orihime tried to ignore how good Ichigo looked in his tuxedo and Ichigo tried to ignore how right it had felt to have her in his arms again. Orihime took her spot in line behind Loly and listened as Chizuru expertly played an instrumental version of the lesbian anthem 'Come To My Window' by Melissa Etheridge. As usual, the beauty queen felt uncomfortable in her baton outfit and absent- mindedly tugged on it to cover more skin as she waited.

'Well, this is uncomfortable.' Ichigo thought as he watched Orihime adjust her outfit. He really just wanted to be able to get away from her, but so far he was finding the task impossible. It had been hard enough watching other guys leer at her as she participated in the swimsuit competition, but at least he hadn't had a clear view of her at the time. Now, he had a prime view to appreciate her curves in her short shorts and small top as he stood two feet away from her in the crowded wing.

"Chizuru's almost done. Can you go get the next contestant?" Nemu asked. Ichigo nodded, glad to get a reprieve from Orihime even if only for a moment. Ichigo returned with Aya just as Chizuru was taking her final bow. Chad quickly rolled the piano off the stage as the hosts introduced the next act. "Next is contestant number 9, Loly!" Gin exclaimed as Loly took the stage.

She tapped to the classic ragtime hit 'The Entertainer' and her skilled performance garnered a lot of applause from the audience. She took of her top hat and bowed as the audience continued to clap. She waved as she hurried off the stage. Keigo caught the mischievous look on her face as she exited the stage.

"Thank you Loly, one of my favorite songs. Next, contestant number 15, Orihime!"

"Good luck." Nemu stated with a small hesitant smile. She returned the smile and continued smiling as she walked to the middle of the stage. The talented baton twirler froze in her opening pose as she waited for her music.

Orihime's routine was going flawlessly as she geared up for the big finale. Thus far, she had made all her catches and hit all her stunts perfectly. 'I can do this.' She reassured herself as she tossed her baton as high as possible and performed three back handsprings followed by a twisting back tuck. She sunk into her split, caught the baton, winked at the judges, and then smiled radiantly. The audience applauded loudly, thoroughly impressed by her performance.

Orihime smiled and waved at the audience as she took several bows since the applause wasn't dying down. She caught sight of her mother, who was actually smiling at her for once instead of the normal look of contempt. Orihime jogged off the stage to change into her beauty gown.

When Orihime reached the rack where she had left her dress along with the rest of the contestants, her mouth dropped open in shock and her batons clattered to the ground as the girl went slack and almost fell to the floor herself. Her beautiful pale blue gown had been destroyed. It looked like someone had hastily taken scissors to some of the dress and in red paint they had written 'whore' across the back of the dress. 'Oh my God." Orihime thought before she fainted.

A/N: Longest. Chapter. Ever. I have seriously been writing this for two weeks, little by little. I think it might be a little too long honestly. Now since I have to number the scene changes since the whole **~~~ thing doesn't work anymore, I realize I might have been a little excessive with the scene changes. Thank you to everyone who favorited, alerted, and reviewed. The reviews really inspired me to crank this chapter out even though a lot of the time I wasn't really motivated to write. : p So thank you to everyone who reviewed and here are the review responses.

**FallenAngel680:** Well, Ichigo and Orihime do have some undeniable chemistry so they really should get back together, but who knows with Ichigo's stubbornness. : p. Thanks for reviewing!

**mosspaw**: Every time I watch Toddlers and Tiaras I'm shocked that any parent is okay with that, but to each their own. Ichigo is pretty idiotic, but he is just a silly teenage boy so we have to cut him some slack. Thank you for reviewing!

**lunarstar77**: Lol. Aizen definitely gives off a pedobear vibe. The whole Hinamori thing is jut super creepy. Glad you liked it!

**cheerleader40404**: Thank you! I'm glad you like the story. Hopefully you like this chapter too! : )

**Fostersb**: Orihime definitely has a lot of creepy people in her life, but she's young so she still has time to start over. Thank you for reviewing so consistently! It means a lot to me. : )

**zodious**: Thank you! Hope you liked this chapter.

**MellowDeez**: Lol. Aizen just gives off such a pedophile vibe, it seemed like the natural role for him.


	9. Chapter 9

I.

"Okay, next I have to find Michiru and Kotoe." Ichigo muttered to himself as he headed backstage. Aya's voice singing Hikari faded as he put distance between himself and the stage. Once he had located both girls, he led them towards the stage wings while he glanced over his list to see who he had to find next. He was so focused on his list, that he didn't notice Orihime until Michiru gasped and ran over to the unconscious beauty queen.

"Oh my God! Hime! Hime! Wake up!" Michiru pleaded as she knelt by the auburn haired girl. Ichigo quickly shook himself out of his stupor and joined Michiru at Orihime's side. He briefly touched his hand to the back of her head to check for injuries resulting from her fall, and he was relieved to find nothing seriously wrong with her.

"Michiru, you need to get to the stage." Ichigo commanded without removing his worried gaze from Orihime.

"Are you insane? I'm not going to just leave her here." Michiru countered indignantly.

"There's not much you can do to help anyway. If you don't go now you're throwing away your chance at the scholarship money. I'll take care of it. Go."

Michiru still looked conflicted, but eventually she nodded at Ichigo and ran off toward the stage.

"Hey Keigo" Ichigo spoke into the headset.

"Yeah?" Keigo's voice sounded in his ear.

"I need you to make sure all the contestants are ready to go on stage when it is their turn. I've got something else I've gotta do."

"What? Why should I do YOUR jo-" Ichigo disconnected from Keigo's frequency before his friend could continue objecting.

Ichigo returned his sole attention to waking the girl in front of him. "Inoue." She didn't stir. "Inoue." He reiterated louder. No reaction. Ichigo sighed. He had hoped it wouldn't come to this.

He really didn't want to touch her. Even before their messy break-up, touching her had always made him feel vulnerable. All the walls that he had so carefully constructed after his mom died to protect himself seemed to crumble the moment her skin touched his. After the break-up, he had started to rebuild his walls. He wasn't going to give anyone else the opportunity to hurt him again. Even while checking her for head injuries moments ago, he could feel his old feelings returning.

He pondered whether or not dumping cold water on her face would wake her up. He wondered how much trouble he would be in if the water ruined her make-up. After a few moments of hesitation, Ichigo reluctantly placed his hand on her soft cheek. "Inoue. Wake up." He demanded as he softly patted her cheek.

When she still didn't respond, Ichigo groaned before cupping her face with both hands and gently moving her to a seated position. "Inoue." He repeated while stroking her cheeks, slightly rougher this time. She still didn't stir and he was finding it harder and harder to ignore how soft her skin was. "Inoue!" He punctuated her name with a light slap to her cheek.

Her eyelids fluttered. Ichigo immediately dropped his hands, resulting in her falling back to the floor. "Owww." She muttered as she raised a hand to her stinging cheek. She opened her eyes and found herself staring into dark amber eyes.

He met her gaze for a moment before clearing his throat and looking away. "Sorry." Ichigo muttered.

Orihime removed her hand from her cheek and raised it to her head. "Oww. Did I fall? What happe-" Suddenly, it all came rushing back to her and her eyes bulged dramatically. "My dress!" She scrambled to her feet and grabbed her dress off the rack.

Ichigo slowly raised himself to his feet and joined Orihime at the rack. "Woah. Was that your dress?" He asked.

Orihime nodded as she stared in horror at the tattered dress in her arms. "I don't know what I'm going to do. My mom spent so much money on this dress and she quit her job to coach me full time….she'll kill me."

"Calm down. There's a solution to this. Do you have anything else you can wear?" He asked.

"No. You have to have your dress approved ahead of time. If I wear anything else I'll be disqualified." She replied sadly.

"Even in this situation? Obviously someone is trying to sabotage you. I'm sure Mayuri will make an exception this-"

"No he won't. He hates me. I can't believe Loly and Menoly would do this."

Ichigo gently took the dress from her. He regarded the dress in silence for a moment before handing it back to her. "I know someone who can fix this."

He could practically see the stars shining in her eyes as she turned her head up to meet his gaze. "Really Kurosaki-kun?"

II.

The audience chattered amongst themselves during the commercial break. Most of the conversations centered around who they thought was in the lead. The general consensus seemed to be that Orihime was definitely winning.

As his friends talked about how great their new friend Orihime was doing, Ishida occupied himself by glancing through the pageant program. Tatsuki, noticing Ishida was isolating himself from the group, brought him into the conversation.

"So, Uryuu, what's the next event?"

Ishida glanced away from the program to meet Tatsuki's gaze. "Musical performance, then beauty, some type of video montage, interview, and then crowning." He explained.

Renji reclined in his seat. "So it is safe to say we'll be here awhile."

Rukia rested her feet on top of the seat in front of her, ignoring the glare the seat's occupant gave her. "I want to support Inoue and all, but do they really need all these events?" Rukia complained.

Mizuiro shrugged. "Not like we had anything else to do. And I can't think of a better way to spend my evening than admiring beautiful woman." Mizuiro concluded with a grin.

Tatsuki rolled her eyes. "Of course."

Suddenly, a familiar orange-haired teen appeared from the stage area.

"Yo, Ichigo!" Renji greeted with a wave as the scowling teen approached, hands stuffed in his tuxedo pant pockets.

"Yo." Ichigo returned shortly. "Come with me Ishida." Ichigo demanded, grabbing Ishida's arm and practically dragging him out of his chair.

"Unhand me Kurosaki!" Ishida yelled before roughly removing Ichigo's hand from his arm. "What is the meaning of this?"

Ichigo glared. "Inoue needs your help."

Ishida's icy glare softened at the mention of Orihime. "With what?"

"Her dress. Come on, we don't have a lot of time." Ichigo led the way backstage and Ishida followed.

III.

"Ishida-kun!" Orihime exclaimed when the seamstress appeared with Ichigo.

"Hello Inoue-san. I'd ask you how you were, except looking at your dress I think I know the answer."

"Can you fix this? Kurosaki-kun said you are president of the handicraft club, but this dress is pretty much destroyed."

"May I?" Ishida asked, reaching for the dress. Orihime nodded enthusiastically and handed Ishida the dress. He held it out before him and contemplated it for several moments. "I can fix this." He stated confidently.

He was so focused on the dress that he didn't see Orihime flying toward him and was only aware of her presence when she grabbed him and pulled him into a bear hug. "Thank you so much Ishida-kun! You have no idea how much this means to me!" She planted a kiss on his cheek to express her gratitude. Ishida noticed Ichigo glowering jealously and couldn't help but smirk at his possessive friend.

He gently disentangled Orihime from his chest and smiled at her. "That is what friends are for." He took a seat at one of the vanities and pulled out several sewing tools from his pocket.

"You seriously carry all that stuff around at all times?" Ichigo asked in disbelief when Ishida pulled out three different types of scissors.

"Came in handy today, didn't it?" Ishida asked testily.

Ichigo had no response.

III.

The Japanese national anthem faded from the speakers as the cameras turned back on and zoomed in on the hosts.

Rangiku, who had changed into a stunning silver strapless dress during the break, smiled as she addressed the viewers. "Welcome back to the First Annual Miss Teen Karakura Pageant!"

Gin, who remained in the same white tuxedo, wrapped his arm around his co-host's waist. "Before we continue on with the competition, we have a very special musical guest. Ladies and gentlemen, please help us welcome…."

"Asian Kung Fu Generation!" Both hosts chimed together as the audience burst into applause.

Once the band was situated and began to play one of their most popular songs, Mayuri decided it was time to prepare for the night's most important event, beauty. "Nemu, go check on the contestants." Mayuri ordered his obedient assistant.

"Yes Mayuri." Nemu stated emotionlessly.

Nemu checked her list for the contestants' order. First three were Orihime, Chizuru, and Aya. Nemu started to search for the auburn haired beauty queen. After maneuvering her way past several contestants, Nemu finally found the contestant she was looking for, along with Kurosaki Ichigo and a teenage boy with glasses sewing furiously. "What are you doing here?" Nemu asked the unfamiliar teen.

Ishida did not stop sewing, but he did raise his gaze to meet Nemu's. "Helping my friend." He answered.

"You really shouldn't be back here. It is contestant and employee access only." Nemu replied.

"Please Nemu-san….I really need his help." Orihime pleaded.

Nemu's heart softened as she gazed into teary gray doe eyes. "He can stay." She relented after a moment.

Orihime smiled. "Thank you so much Nemu-san!"

Nemu walked over to Ishida and inspected the dress. The dutiful assistant had seen the dress many times during rehearsals but Ishida had transformed it into something completely different. "Wow. How long have you been working on this?" Nemu asked.

"Four, five minutes." Ishida said.

"Impressive." Nemu stated as she examined the white lace Ishida had added to the bottom of the dress. Ishida stopped cutting for a moment and looked up at Nemu. They shared a moment before Ichigo cleared his throat loudly.

"Ishida. Not trying to interrupt anything, but Inoue sort of needs a dress for the pageant."

"Right. I'm on it." Ishida started sewing again and Ichigo was nice enough not to comment on the slight blush on his cheeks.

"You've done a great job, -Ishida-san was it?" Ishida nodded so Nemu continued. "But Orihime is first in beauty. The band will play for maybe another two minutes and then we have a short commercial break, but Orihime needs to be out there in 5 minutes and I'm not sure the dress will be finished."

"Oh no." Orihime stated weakly. "I'm first?"

Nemu hated the look of despair that overcame Orihime's pretty features. "I'll change the order."

"What?" Orihime questioned.

"I'll make you last. Mayuri might be a little mad but it shouldn't be that big of a deal. That buys you another five minutes. Do you think you can finish in 10 minutes Ishida-san?" Nemu asked.

"It will be tough but I think I can do it." Ishida said confidently.

Nemu nodded. "Good luck." She spared one last look at Ishida before leaving to do her job.

Ichigo smirked as he pushed himself off the wall he had been leaning against. "And to think I always thought you were gay."

"Kurosaki." Ishida warned.

"I mean… you showed absolutely no interest in girls…"

"Kurosaki!" Ishida exclaimed angrily.

"And then with the sewing…"

Before he knew it, Ishida had rushed him and held a pair of scissors to his neck. "Not another word." Ishida warned.

Ichigo gulped and nodded.

Ishida released Ichigo and returned to the dress.

IV.

"The dress is almost done Inoue-san." Ishida finally spoke after 8 minutes of intense sewing.

"Great! Thank you so much Ishida-kun!" Orihime exclaimed as she tried to crane her neck around Neliel to see the seamstress.

Nel held the beauty queen's face still as she applied deep red lipstick. "Stop squirming Hime. I'm almost done."

Nel finished, gave Orihime a hug, whispered good luck into her ear, and then disappeared.

"Inoue-san, this might be somewhat inappropriate, but I need to make sure the dress fits and we don't exactly have a lot of time….."

Before Ishida could even finish his request, Orihime was already stripping out of her baton outfit. Ichigo sputtered and turned bright red while Ishida remained more composed but still had a slight red blush.

Once she was down to her bra and panties, Ishida handed her the dress and helped her pull it over her head. "Hmmm…..I'm not sure this will stay on…." Ishida said worriedly once her saw the dress on Orihime. He had to take off a lot of fabric to get rid of the paint stains and the entire back had to come off since whore had been written on it. "We need straps." Ishida determined.

Ishida Uryuu pulled a fake diamond necklace out of his sewing kit and cut it in half. He quickly sewed the pieces to each side of the dress to create straps. "Done." He said proudly.

Orihime went to look at herself in the mirror and gasped. The dress actually looked better than when she had bought it! The turquoise dress had a low v-neck back that exposed a lot of creamy skin. Ishida had put high slits on either side that exposed her shapely legs. He had added lace underneath the dress to make up for pieces that had to be taken off because of the paint and the scissor hacking which complimented the turquoise color well. The fake diamond straps went well with the rhinestones embedded in the dress' bodice. "Wow. Thank you so much Ishida-kun!" Orihime exclaimed before giving Ishida another hug.

"And thank you Kurosaki-kun. If it wasn't for you, I'd probably still be lying on the floor." Orihime smiled at him, but did not try to hug him. Ichigo returned the smile. Orihime walked over to her vanity, grabbed her white heels, and her hair clips. The hair clips were blue snowflakes that her brother had given her before he died. She had worn them at every beauty pageant for the last 8 years. She carefully placed the hairclips in to avoid messing up her curly up-do.

Nemu's voice sounded in Ichigo's headset. "Is she ready?"

"Yeah." Ichigo answered distractedly as he admired the beauty standing in front of him. He shook himself out of his stupor. "Inoue, your turn." She nodded and ran off toward the stage.

"Are you really just going to let her go?" Ishida asked as both teens watched her walk away.

Ichigo didn't reply.

V.

"And our last contestant for beauty, please welcome number 15, Inoue Orihime!" Gin introduced before Orihime walked out on the stage. Orihime smiled at the judges as she started her beauty walk. Once she reached the middle of the stage she stopped, executed a perfect pageant turn, and then walked off the stage to polite applause from the audience.

"And that concludes the beauty competition. Now it is time to get to know a little bit more about our contestants. Our camera crew interviewed all the girls about what they love about pageants and we're going to watch their answers now." Rangiku said before the lights dimmed and the video started.

Backstage, the contestants used the video break as time to change into their interview outfits. Orihime's outfit consisted of a grey striped pencil skirt and a suit jacket over a white blouse. She pulled her hair into a ponytail but left the blue hairclips in. Orihime noticed Loly glaring at her from the back of the room. Orihime smirked. 'She must be so mad that her plan to sabotage me failed.' Orihime thought to herself.

VI.

"Welcome back to the first Annual Miss Teen Karakura Beauty Pageant!" Rangiku greeted as the show returned from commercial break.

Gin took over the dialogue. "Unfortuantely, it is now time to say goodbye to some of our contestants. The top 5 in no particular order are…..Ogawa Michiru!" Michiru gasped, she had never placed in the top five before. She hugged Orihime tightly before leaving the line of contestants and standing to the right.

"Nagata Kotoe!" Kotoe, a pretty tall girl with black hair and violet eyes, smiled as she took her place beside Michiru.

"Ron Loly!" Loly high fived Menoly before joining Kotoe and Michiru.

"Inoue Orihime!" Cheers erupted from her friends in the crowd as her name was called. She hugged Chizuru before standing beside Loly, who glared at her evilly.

"And rounding out our top five, Suzuki Aya!" Aya was a pretty blonde girl with blue eyes, the quintessential beauty queen. She smiled before joining the rest of the top five.

Matsumoto Rangiku walked over to the girls who hadn't made it. "Thank you all for your time. You're all very beautiful. Give it up for these girls!" The audience applauded loudly as the former contestants walked offstage.

"Now, we will begin the interview section. First up is Loly and her question comes from Aizen." Gin said.

The camera zoomed in on Aizen at the judges' table as he asked his question. "Loly, if you could live anywhere in the world besides Japan, where would it be and why?"

Loly pondered her answer for a moment before responding. "Well, living in Japan would definitely be my first choice, but if I had to live somewhere else, it would probably be England. I like that England has rich history like Japan and a lot of historical places to visit. And of course, England has beautiful beaches, just like Japan."

"Thank you Loly." Rangiku chimed. "Next, Tia Harribel will ask Michiru a question."

The camera panned to Harribel, "Michiru, recently, a woman's traditional role in the house has been challenged as women branch out and have careers. As a young girl, how do you feel about this?"

Michiru wrung her hands nervously. "Well…. umm…. on one hand, a woman's…. um…. role in the house is important because being a mother is a very important job…but…having a job is also important so…yeah." Michiru finished lamely.

"Thank you Michiru. Next, Yamamoto-Genryūsai Shigekuni will ask Aya her question." Gin announced.

"Aya, a new controversial law was just passed in Karakura. Karakura has cut down visiting hours for prisoners in order to save money. What is your opinion on this issue?"

"Well, honestly, I think this is a good solution to the budget crisis. The only other option was to take the money from the schools, which could result in more crimes, and even more crowded prisons. The prisoners made their choice, we do not have any obligation to make their sentences more comfortable."

"Thank you Aya. Next up, Shihōin Yoruichi will ask Kotoe a question." Rangiku stated.

"If you win this competition, what will this do for your future?" Yoruichi questioned.

"Well, _when _I win," Kotoe stated confidently, "this will be great exposure for me. I love pageants, but my real goal is to model. In fact, you're my idol Shihōin-san and one day I hope to have the kind of career you have. Traveling the world, meeting fabulous people, gracing the covers of magazines all around the world…" A bell beeping interrupted Kotoe's ramblings.

"That's your time Kotoe. Finally, Kurosaki Isshin will ask Orihime her question." Gin stated.

Isshin cleared his throat before leaning forward and meeting Orihime's gaze. "Orihime, some people believe beauty pageants are harmful to young girls because they place too much emphasis on appearance and many contestants are pushed by their parents to compete. How would you respond to these critics?"

Orihime gulped. Suddenly, the spotlight was blinding and the silence that filled the auditorium seemed deafening. For a moment, Orihime considered telling Isshin the truth. She wanted to tell him that she agreed with the critics, beauty pageants were extremely harmful. However, her rebellious streak died the moment her gray eyes met her mother's. "I would respond to the critics by telling them they are only looking at the negatives. There are millions of positive things about pageants. Personally, competing in pageants has made me much more confidant, much more personable, and with all the scholarships I've won I can go to my dream school without worrying about price. There are negative aspects about everything in life, what you have to worry about is whether the benefits outweigh the costs. And in pageants, there are definitely more positives." Orihime concluded with a smile.

Rangiku wrapped an arm around Orihime's shoulder. "Thank you Orihime. We're going to take a commercial break so our judges have time to deliberate and when we come back, Miss Teen Karakura will be crowned so stay tuned!" Rangiku chimed with a smile.

A/N: That is the end of chapter 9! I'll try to update soon but I'm working so I'm not sure when I'll have time. Here are the review responses!

**XBluexFlamingoX: **I can't believe you reviewed every chapter! Thank you! Here it the update!

**Mosspaw: **Thanks for reviewing! So this chapter sort of ends on a cliffhanger too, but I don't think it is as suspenseful as last time.

**FallenAngel680: **Thanks for reviewing!

**Fostersb: **The Nemu Ishida interaction was just for you! Hope you liked it! : )

**skee: **I feel like I don't even mean to write cliffhangers sometimes. I just can't find a good place to stop so I just stop awkwardly when I feel like the chapter is too long. Thanks for reviewing!

**zodious: **Yep. Menoly and Loly are super vindictive bullies. Glad you liked the last chapter, hope you like this one too!

**cheerleader40404: **Thank you! I wasn't sure the performance were descriptive enough so it is good to know you liked it!

Thank you to all the reviewers, favoriters, and alerters! I'll try to update soon!


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Here is chapter 10! Thank you to all the reviewers, favoriters, and alerters!

I.

Ichigo watched from the wings as the show went to its final commercial break. The final five quickly scurried from the stage for their last outfit change. 'Now or never.' He thought to himself as he followed after Orihime.

Orihime quickly changed into her final outfit, a plain white dress that tied around her neck and came down to her knees. She took her hair out of the ponytail and allowed her wavy auburn tresses to cascade down her back. She changed into black heels and walked out of the dressing room. The beauty queen was distractedly putting on her pearl earrings and not paying attention to her surroundings, which explained why she bumped into Ichigo, who was waiting for her directly outside the dressing room.

"Ooof." Ichigo reflexively gripped her arm to keep her from falling. She looked up. "Hey, Kurosaki-kun."

He sighed at the formality he had become accustomed to with her since they broke up. "Inoue- no…that doesn't feel right. Orihime, we need to talk."

She did not want to get her hopes up, but the fact that she was Orihime again instead of Inoue had to count for something. "Okay, what do you want to talk about?"

"We can't talk here. Come on." He grabbed her hand and led her to an empty storage closet, the same storage closet where he had dumped her a few days earlier she realized with a heavy heart. She tried to clear her mind of the bad memories as he fumbled with the light switch.

Once the lights were on, he turned to face Orihime. For a few moments, they stared at each other in awkward silence before Ichigo cleared his throat and nervously kneaded the back of his neck before speaking. "I know you have to be on stage in a minute so I'll make this quick." He hesitated momentarily before reaching out to hold both her hands with his. He was relieved when she made no move to pull away. "I…I want to work this out…I mean…. I want _us_ to work." He absentmindedly started rubbing her hand with his thumb. "I didn't want to say anything earlier today because I didn't want to upset you during the pageant, but now that's it basically over I have to say this."

The scowling carrot top took a shuddering breath before continuing "I'm sorry. I'm sorry about everything. I really care about you and I shouldn't have broken up with you. Obviously, I don't know what will happen after the pageant, all I know is… I want to try to be together."

"Ichigo-kun…. I don't know what to say." She confessed.

"You don't have to say anything right now. I know that after everything that's happened, you'll need some time to think. But I want you to take this." He reluctantly released her hands in order to search through his tuxedo pockets. He pulled out a plain black cell phone. He placed it in her hands. "It's prepaid and I programmed my number into it. If you want to talk or if you need anything, I want you to call me."

Orihime regarded the phone cautiously. "My mom won't like this."

"Hide it. I won't call you so she won't hear the phone vibrating or anything. It should be fine." He checked his watch. "We're out of time."

There were so many things Orihime wanted to say, but a quick check of the screen on her new cell phone confirmed what Ichigo had just said. It was time to get to the stage. Ichigo held the door open for her and she nodded her thanks as she headed for the stage.

All the other contestants were already on stage and Orihime took her spot in line just as the judges appeared from the deliberation room. They had just taken their seats when the cameras turned back on.

"Welcome back to the first annual Miss Teen Karakura Pageant." Gin said.

"We have reached the end of our competition and one of these beautiful young women is about to be crowned Miss Teen Karakura." Rangiku explained.

"The winner of Miss Teen Karakura will have the opportunity to compete to become Miss Teen Japan next month." Gin announced.

"Have the judges made a decision?" Rangiku asked. All the judges nodded. "Can I have the envelope please?" Aizen stood from the judges' table and delivered the envelope to Rangiku.

Gin stood beside Rangiku so they could both view the results. "The 4th runner up is, Ogawa Michiru!" Everyone clapped politely as Michiru accepted her bouquet of flowers and an envelope with 20,000 yen.

"The 3rd runner up is Nagata Kotoe!" Kotoe had a hard time disguising her disappointment, but she did manage a small smile as she accepted her bouquet and 25,000 yen.

"The 2nd runner up is Ron Loly!" Loly glared at Orihime before accepting her bouquet and 35,000 yen.

"And then there were two" Gin announced ominously. Orihime and Aya joined hands as they waited for the results. "The 1st runner up is… Suzuki Aya! Which means Inoue Orihime is the first Miss Teen Karakura!"

The audience burst into applause as Orihime was handed a bouquet and 450,000 yen. Rangiku placed the extravagant glittering crown on Orihime's head and secured it with bobby pins. Orihime began her victory walk as the Japanese national anthem blared from the speakers. She smiled and waved prettily at the audience as she walked. The pretty young women noticed her mother in the audience, smiling broadly with tears in her eyes. Orihime quickly focused her eyes elsewhere. She noticed Ichigo watching her from the wings and smiled at him before turning around and heading back to the center of the stage.

Gin and Rangiku stood on either side of Orihime once she had completed her walk. "Do you have anything you want to say?" Rangiku asked while holding the microphone in front of Orihime's face.

"I just want to say thank you to everyone who supported me. I won't let you guys down. I hope to make Karakura proud." Orihime chimed.

"Thank you for watching! I'm Ichimaru Gin."

"And I'm Matsumoto Rangiku. See you next year!"

II.

Orihime stuffed her baton outfit into her duffle bag. She looked through the rack one last time to ensure she hadn't forgotten anything. Satisfied that she had everything, she shouldered the duffle bag and headed for the exit.

The pageant had ended over two hours ago and she was finally leaving the auditorium. Directly following the pageant, Orihime had to pose for local reporters and be interviewed by several local newspapers. Afterwards, Nemu had brought her lots of paper work to sign. At first, Orihime had read the paperwork diligently, but after twenty pages or so Orihime had just started signing her name at the bottom of the page.

Once she had finished the paperwork, Nemu had collected it and informed Orihime that as the new Miss Teen Karakura she had to meet with Aizen tomorrow to discuss her future. Orihime felt impending doom with the knowledge that she would have to face Aizen in the near future, but she managed to simply nod and thank Nemu for informing her.

Since all her official pageant business was done, Orihime felt relieved that she could be herself again. She washed all the make-up off her face, changed into a comfortable blue sweat suit, and finally allowed the fake smile she had been donning all day to fall from her face. Her cheeks actually ached from smiling so much. Finally, Orihime had packed up her things and she was finally ready to go home.

Well, almost ready. The beauty queen knew she had to do one more thing before she could leave.

III.

"Ichigo-kun! I'm so glad you're still here! I've been looking for you for a while and I was starting to think you'd already gone home. Or been kidnapped by the little blue men….. or worse!"

Ichigo stared at the beauty queen with a blank expression, fairly used to her eccentric nature by now. She shook herself out of her pondering and got back on topic.

"I know my mom is around here somewhere and I'm not supposed to be talking to you, but I needed to see you."

'So, this is it? I guess she thought on it and realized she can do much better than me. She probably wants to say goodbye and then I'll never see her again. At least I tried.' Ichigo was pulled out of his depressing thoughts by the sound of her melodious voice.

"Ichigo-kun, I want to be with you. I know it is going to be hard. We'll have to deal with my mom, and Miss Teen Japan, and…"

She was cut off when Ichigo suddenly pressed his lips to her. She quickly started responding to his kisses. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he in turn wrapped an arm around her waist while one of his hands tangled itself in her hair.

'Wow, I've missed this.' Ichigo thought just before deepening the kiss. Although it had only been a few days since he kissed her last, it felt like an eternity.

After a few moments, he managed to pull himself away from her. He smiled at her as her eyes slowly fluttered open. She was so beautiful. Especially without all the make-up. He gave her another quick kiss. "We'll make this work. It's going to be tough but we'll make it work." He whispered before engaging her in another kiss.

"Orihime! Orihime, where are you?" The teens sprung apart at the sound of Ayako's voice.

Ichigo released Orihime from his hold after one last quick kiss and quickly disappeared into the shadows. Orihime's mom angrily rounded the corner. "There you are! I've been looking all over for you! We have things to do before we meet with Aizen tomorrow. Come on." Her mother gripped her arm and led her toward the car.

IV.

"Hello Inoue-san, Fujita-san, please take a seat." Aizen gestured to the two plush seats in front of his desk. Ayako happily sat and glared at her daughter as Orihime hesitated to take her seat. Finally both women were seated and Aizen smiled charmingly.

"You both look beautiful this morning." Aizen complimented. Orihime wore a pair of black jeans and a plain yellow blouse paired with her worn black sneakers, hair pulled back into a ponytail. Ayako had put much more effort into impressing Aizen and was wearing a flattering little black dress with red heels. Her auburn hair was twisted into an elaborate French braid.

"Thank you so much Aizen-san. You look very handsome as well. And you can call us by our first names. We're all friends here." Ayako said giddily.

Aizen was wearing his trademark Armani business suit and his hair was slicked back as usual. "Alright, Ayako." Ayako blushed involuntarily as Aizen said her name. "As much as I would love to exchange pleasantries all day with two beautiful women, we do have some business to attend to. But first, congratulations are in order. Orihime, from the moment we first met, I had no doubt that you would be Miss Teen Karakura. You're beautiful, intelligent, and undeniably sweet. I know you will represent the pageant well."

Orihime knew she should be flattered by Aizen's praise, but it just made her feel sleazy. When her mother kicked her under the desk, she forced out a small "Thank you."

"Would you ladies like anything to drink?" Without waiting for an answer, Aizen pressed a button on his intercom. "Momo? Can you bring in three coffees please?"

"Of course Aizen-sama." An innocent voice replied. Moments later a young woman walked into the office carrying three coffees. She couldn't have been older than 17. She placed the coffees on the desk.

Aizen smiled at her. "Thank you Hinamori."

Hinamori positively glowed at Aizen's praise. She cast a lovesick gaze at Aizen before leaving the room. Orihime felt sick.

Aizen and Ayako both took sips of coffee. "Orihime, as Miss Teen Karakura it is your responsibility to make appearances at Karakura events. Things like visiting sick children in the hospital, new business openings, etc. I know you will be busy training for Miss Teen Japan, but you're going to have to find a way to balance both."

Orihime nodded. "I understand."

"Good. You're allowed to accept paid appearances, but for every paid appearance you have to do an unpaid appearance." Aizen explained.

"When does she get paid?" Of course, Orihime's mom immediately cut to the chase.

"You'll have to work that out with whoever is organizing the appearance. Moving on, you have three paid offers for tomorrow to choose from. A restaurant opening in downtown Karakura, a car wash to benefit Karakura high school, or an appearance on the TV show Good Morning Karakura." Aizen said.

"Good Morning Karakura." Orihime's mom chose without consulting her daughter.

"Actually, I think I would like to do the car wash." Orihime said meekly.

"What is the matter with you? Good Morning Karakura is obviously going to pay the most money and get you the most exposure." Her mother stated.

'What should I tell her? I obviously can't let her know that I want to do the car wash so I can see Ichigo and my friends.'

"Mom, what would I say on the TV show? I haven't done anything yet. It will look bad when they ask me what events I have done around Karakura and I can't say anything. I should go on TV later." Orihime stated.

Her mother looked like she wanted to continue to argue, but she was interrupted by Aizen. "That makes a lot of sense Orihime. Car wash it is. You need to be at Karakura high school at 8:30 tomorrow morning."

V.

The ride home from Aizen's office had been very awkward. Her mother wasn't speaking to her, but Orihime didn't care. She was proud of herself for defying her mother. This was her life and she could make her own choices.

Open reaching the apartment Orihime's mother had forced Orihime to spend the whole day brushing up on local and international news so she would be prepared for the interview competition at Miss Teen Japan. After a full day of watching the news and reading the newspaper, Orihime's mother finally decided to let her daughter go to sleep.

Orihime closed the door to the bathroom and turned on the shower. She double- checked that the door was locked before she pulled out her cell phone. After a few moments of inspecting the phone's features, Orhime finally found her contact list. Ichigo's number was the only number listed. She pressed the green phone button and heard the phone ringing on the other end.

"Hello?"

"Ichigo-kun?" She whispered.

Although she couldn't see him, she could tell he was smiling. "Hey Orihime."

"I miss you." She whispered.

"I miss you too. Is there a reason you're whispering? I can barely hear you over the running water."

"My mom is here. I don't want her to find the phone because I know she'll take it."

"Oh, gotcha. So what's up?"

"I'm making an appearance at your school tomorrow. And I want to see you… and all my friends."

"I'm looking forward to seeing you. What are you doing after the appearance?"

"My mom has jury duty so I should be free. What did you have in mind Ichigo-kun?"

"Well, Mayuri finally paid me so I want to take you out."

"Where?"

"It's a surprise."

A/N: There is chapter ten. Please review!


	11. Chapter 11

Author's note: Hey guys! Yeah, I'm not dead. Sorry it has been so long since I've updated! I'm back in school which means I have zero free time. I actually wrote most of this chapter over the Summer, but I haven't had time to finish it. Anyways, here is chapter 11!

Chapter 11:

I.

Orihime practically skipped off the bus once it arrived at

Karakura High School. She waved merrily at the bus driver as the bus departed. The beauty queen readjusted her 'Miss Teen Karakura' sash over her bright yellow dress for the millionth time before heading toward the parking lot.

Orihime approached the high school students nervously. Since her mother had pulled her out of school two years ago, she didn't spend a lot of time around people her age and she wasn't sure she would fit in. Once she reached the students, who were all clad in their bathing suits, no one acknowledged her since they were preoccupied with their group meeting.

"….and make sure you try to up-sell. All right guys, I think that's everything. Let's go make some money! Karakura High School on three, one, two, three!"

"Karakura High School!" The students chorused before breaking apart from their circle. As the students headed for their respective work stations, Orihime managed to make eye contact with several students who smiled welcomingly at her. The beauty queen visibly relaxed as the students welcomed her.

"Hime!" Orihime spun around at the sudden yell of her name.

"Tatsuki-chan!" The two girls embraced as if they hadn't seen each other in months despite the fact that it had only been a few days.

Tatsuki pulled back from the hug first. "Congratulations Orihime! I knew you could do it. Are you excited about being Miss Teen Karakura?"

Before the beauty queen could answer her friend's question, a new voice entered the conversation. "Sorry to interrupt your reunion, but as ASB president I have business with Inoue."

Tatsuki rolled her eyes at Senna. "You're not in charge of this car wash Senna. I'm senior class president and I can handle the business side just as well as you can."

"Sorry to break it to you Arisawa, but ASB president trumps senior class president." Senna said snottily.

Tatsuki cracked her knuckles threateningly. "Yeah? Well, as president of the karate club-" Orihime rested a comforting hand on her friend's tense shoulder.

"It's okay Tatsuki-chan. What do you need to talk to me about Senna?"

Senna smiled sweetly, too sweetly, as Tatsuki scowled. "Well, since it is business related, I'd rather we talk in private."

Orihime followed Senna until they were standing far enough away from the other students that they would not be overheard. The two girls stared each other down for a few moments before Senna broke the awkward silence.

"So, we've decided you'll get 5% of the profits from today's car wash." Senna stated, prepared to barter since Orihime would obviously want a bigger cut of the profits.

"Okay." Orihime replied. Senna blinked confusingly.

_ 'She's really not going to demand more? What is she playing at? That sweet act may work on Ichigo but it is not going to work on me._' The ASB president thought. She managed to keep the suspicion out of her voice as she addressed the beauty queen again. "Alright then. Your main job is going to be getting people in here. So I need you to change into your bathing suit and go stand near the intersection."

Orihime nodded cheerfully. "Okay. I'll get right on it." The auburn haired beauty queen carefully removed her sash and then pulled her yellow dress over her head. After adjusting her lime green bikini to make sure she wasn't exposing too much cleavage, she put her 'Miss Teen Karakura' sash back on. She carefully folded her dress and then vainly searched for someplace to leave her dress.

Senna's arms quickly shot out. "Oh, I can take care of that."

Orihime handed Senna the dress. "Thank you." The beauty queen chimed before turning away.

Orihime missed the malicious look Senna gave her before she replied "No problem."

II.

"Soooo…. I think I'm in love with you."

Orihime fidgeted uncomfortably and tried to reposition the 'Karakura Car Wash' poster she was carrying to cover her body. 'Thank you?" She replied.

"I'm serious. You're absolutely beautiful. Perfect. You should be Miss Universe!" The teenage boy continued his unwanted praise.

Moments after Orihime had arrived at the intersection, a freshman on his way to class had pulled up on his bicycle and started talking to her. Now, 25 minutes later, he was still talking. Orihime checked the clock as she absentmindedly nodded at whatever her admirer was talking about. 8:00. School would probably be starting soon so hopefully he would go away.

Suddenly, cars were streaming into the high school parking lot. Orihime watched several students as they walked into the school, laughing and joking with their friends. The pretty teenager sighed sadly. '_I'm really missing out on a lot by not going to high school. Will I even be able to get into college? I think I used to be smart, but I haven't learned anything in the last two years.'_

Orihime was pulled out of her worrisome thoughts when she spotted a familiar green motorcycle. Ichigo screeched to a stop once he was right beside the sidewalk where Orihime was waving in traffic. He removed his helmet before glaring menacingly at Orihime's freshman admirer.

"What are you looking at?"

The freshman, who had been admiring how well Orihime filled her bikini top, finally noticed the new arrival. He glared right back at Ichigo. "What's it to you?"

"I don't like the way you're looking at her."

The freshman must have heard the unsaid threat in Ichigo's voice, because he quickly pedaled away from the red headed couple.

Ichigo continued to glare after the freshman until he was out of sight. His angry demeanor dissolved immediately once he turned to face his girlfriend. "Hey beautiful."

Orihime blushed before softly replying "Hi."

Ichigo glanced at her from head to toe, causing her to blush once again. "Is that the same bikini from the pageant?"

Orihime glanced down at her lime green bikini. "It is. I thought it would be a good idea since I'm here as Miss Teen Karakura and all."

Ichigo nodded. "Makes sense. And you look really good. Almost too good considering how many guys are going to be driving by here." Both teens were suddenly startled by the sound of the five-minute warning bell.

Ichigo waited for the bell to stop ringing before speaking again. "So, are you excited we're finally going to be able to spend some time together soon?"

"Ichigo-kun, as much as I want to talk to you, I don't want you to be late for class because of me. What if you got kicked out of school for truancy? Without a high school degree, you wouldn't be able to get a job or make a living. Then your father would be so disappointed he would kick you out of the house. Of course, all this being my fault, you would resent me and plot with all the other homeless people to get revenge and…"

"Orihime, you're rambling again." Ichigo interrupted with a fond smirk aimed in her direction. "I'll see you later." He put his helmet on again and revved his engine before leaving to search for a parking space.

III.

Three and a half hours later, the car wash was finally drawing to a close. For Orihime, it had been a long and exhausting day and the only thing that was keeping her going was the knowledge that she would get to spend some quality time with Ichigo. Senna had been on a power trip all day and the ASB president seemed to take particular delight out of torturing Orihime.

First, Senna had decided Orihime should wear heels instead of her comfortable flip-flops because 'it presented more of a beauty queen image'. Next, Senna had decided that simply holding the car wash sign and smiling by the intersection wasn't enough. She instructed Orihime to bounce and be enthusiastic in order to attract more attention. This had definitely worked, and there had been several near car accidents caused by distracted male drivers.

Toward the end of the car wash, Tatsuki had finally rescued her from the intersection and Orihime began to wash the cars with the other students. This had been a lot of fun at first because she got to hang out with Tatsuki and meet some of the other students. The beauty queen's fun was over when Senna came over and asked Orihime to help her count the money.

For the last hour, the two girls had been sitting at a picnic table outside the school in an uncomfortable silence as they counted the car wash profits. Orihime hated awkward silences, and she would have made an attempt to ease the awkwardness if it wasn't for the hostile looks Senna kept giving her.

_ 'I don't get it. Is this about Ichigo-kun? From what Tatsuki said, Senna is the one that broke up with him. I guess some girls are just really possessive.'_ Orihime thought.

Moments later, Senna finally broke the silence. "It's not going to work."

Orihime stopped counting and looked up at Senna. "Excuse me?"

"You and Ichigo. It's not going to work."

"Well, I don't want to be rude, but it's really none of your business." Orihime countered angrily.

Senna continued on as if Orihime hadn't said anything. "At first, he is really sweet and everything is going great. But eventually, his true nature takes over. He's super jealous, possessive, and he honestly thrives on conflict."

Orihime really wanted to ignore Senna, but some of the things she was saying were ringing too close to home.

"Do you know why I broke up with him? He cheated on me."

Orihime couldn't hide her startled gasp.

"Everything was going great, at least I thought it was going great, and then all of a sudden I found out he was seeing someone else behind my back. Once a cheater, always a cheater. Your days are numbered." Senna concluded with a smug smile. Senna went back to counting the money as if nothing had happened.

"Hime! Are you done yet? Lunch is about to start and I was about to go meet the gang." Tatsuki said as she approached the two girls.

Orihime quickly finished counting her stack of money. She really needed to see Ichigo. "Yeah, I'm done. Let me just put on my dress and then we can go." Orihime began looking around for her dress before she remembered she had given it to Senna. "Senna, do you know what happened to my dress?"

Senna feigned surprise. "I left your dress right here at this table. You don't see it anywhere?"

"Really Senna? Are you really this immature? Give Orihime her dress back." Tatsuki demanded.

"I just said I don't have it." Senna insisted.

Orihime crossed her arms over her bikini top in an attempt to cover herself up. "I can't walk into the school like this."

Tatsuki gripped her friend's arm and led her toward the school. "We'll find you something to wear."

IV.

Orihime gleefully skipped through the halls of the school building as Tatsuki walked beside her. Students glanced at the beauty queen curiously as they hurried outside to meet their groups for lunch.

"Don't look too happy Orihime. People might get suspicious. It is the first day back to school since Spring Break. No one else is going to be skipping through the halls." Tatsuki explained.

Orihime stopped her skipping but there was still a happy bounce in her step. "I can't help it. I'm so excited to see everyone! And I really like this school uniform! It's cute!"

"I can't believe they actually had a uniform in your size. You are pretty top heavy." Tatsuki commented.

"I'm just glad the administrators were nice enough to let me borrow it!" Orihime said.

The beauty queen felt great. She was surrounded by people her age, she was about to see her boyfriend, and wearing the school uniform made her feel as if she belonged. Orihime hadn't realized how much she missed school before stepping into the building. It was just so great to be able to pretend that she was a normal Japanese teenager.

"Hime!" Orihime spun around at the sudden yell of her name.

Tatsuki was pointing to a staircase. "We always eat on the roof."

V.

"You know Inoue, I've been going to this school for over two years now and I've never seen that uniform look better on anyone else. Ever." Keigo claimed as he blatantly undressed Orihime with his eyes.

Before Orihime could formulate a response, Ichigo had socked Keigo in the jaw. As Keigo crumbled to the ground and groaned in pain, everyone went back to their previous conversations as if nothing had happened.

The newly reunited group had been enjoying lunch for the last 20 minutes. Rukia, Renji, Chad, Keigo, Mizuiro, Ishida and of course Ichigo were all happy to see Orihime. Everyone had congratulated her on her win before they got back to their normal everyday lunch topics.

As much as Orihime was enjoying being around her friends again and feeling like she was a part of the group, she was extremely bothered by what Senna had said. If Ichigo cheated on Senna, would he cheat on her? With all her pageant commitments, they would be long distance most of the time and she would have to be able to trust him. Could she trust him?

VI.

Ichigo had been watching Orihime closely since she arrived on the rooftop. Actually, he had been watching her all day. His assigned seat was right beside the window so he had a prime view of the parking lot. At first, he had been watching her because he wanted to make sure none of the male students got too close to her. Many guys did approach her, but she always managed to get rid of them fairly quickly.

Once he realized he didn't have to worry about her, he continued to watch her just because he couldn't tear his eyes away from her. His ever-present scowl melted from his face as he watched his girlfriend start a water fight with Tatsuki as they washed the cars. What had he ever done to deserve someone so wonderful? His scowl returned full force once he saw Senna approach the girls and lead Orihime away. They went around the building and Ichigo lost sight of the two girls. Although he couldn't see anything, he knew this was definitely bad news.

Now as he watched Orihime talk with Rukia and Ishida as they all enjoyed lunch, his bad feelings about her conversation with Senna were completely validated. He could tell she was having a good time with her new friends, but whenever she thought no one was watching her, the smile would immediately leave her face and she would become lost in her own thoughts. Something was obviously bothering her and he was definitely going to get to the bottom of it.

The bell signaling that it was time to go back to class rung all too soon. Orihime looked especially disappointed since this meant the end of her reunion with the people she now considered close friends.

"Do you think the teacher would mind if Orihime sat in on the class?" Rukia asked after noticing the disappointed look on Orihime's face.

"I doubt it. Besides, we could tell her education is part of your pageant platform so you have to observe the typical Japanese classroom environment." Renji commented.

"So it's decided then! You can sit next to me Inoue. There aren't any open desks around me, but you are more than welcome to sit on my lap. " Keigo suggested.

"Not a chance in hell." Ichigo replied threateningly.

VII.

Orihime ended up sitting in a vacant desk beside Tatsuki. While all the other students seemed to be bored out of their minds as they listened to the teacher drone on and on about WWII, Orihime was fascinated. The beauty queen hadn't realized how much she honestly missed learning.

The time seemed to fly by and before she knew it the bell signaling the end of the school day rang and the students streamed out of class. Soon, Orihime, Ichigo, and the teacher were the only people left in the classroom.

Ichigo tentatively approached his girlfriend and intertwined their fingers. She jumped at the sudden contact but tried to hide her uneasiness. But he definitely noticed. He gave her hand a comforting squeeze and tried to ignore how painful it was that she was clearly so uncomfortable around him.

"Ready to go?" He asked. She nodded meekly and allowed him to guide her out of the classroom and to his motorcycle.

Ichigo drove in silence and concentrated on the road as Orihime contemplated Senna's words and kept a tight grip on Ichigo as he swerved in and out of traffic. Eventually, the red headed couple reached their destination but the awkward silence persisted.

The beauty queen took off her helmet and handed it to her boyfriend who secured both helmets to the motorcycle before reaching for her hand.

"So, where are we?" Orihime finally asked in order to soothe the tension that was quickly mounting between them.

"Karakura Fair. It's in town for the next few weeks and I figured that you've probably never been." Ichigo answered.

"A fair! How exciting! I actually have been to the Karakura Fair before. My brother took me once when I was 4 or 5. I remember it being so much fun!"

Ichigo smiled at his girlfriend's enthusiasm and the fact that she seemed to be forgetting about whatever was bothering her earlier. Now all he could hope was that the date would continue to go well.

A/N: Sorry the ending of the chapter is so abrupt, I meant to add more but it could take forever for me to get around to it so I'm just going to upload what I have. Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and alerted! It really inspired me to find time to finish this chapter just because I don't want to keep you guys waiting! Also, if 3 more people favorite this, it will be my most favorited story ever! So please review and favorite! Until next time...


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Happy Holiday Season everyone! I hope you had a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, great Kwanzaa, and a happy New Year! Since I am home for Christmas Break I finally have time to update this story! Also, thank you so much to all the reviewers and favoriters! This is now my most favorited story ever, thanks to you guys! So without further ado, here is chapter 12.

Chapter 12:

I.

"Ichigo-kun, look at the view!" Orihime exclaimed once the Ferris wheel stopped at the top of its track. The newly appointed Miss Teen Karakura readjusted the large teddy bear Ichigo had won for her so she could point at the spectacular view.

Ichigo followed her finger and took in the dazzling view of Karakura. The sun had just begun to set so Karakura was lit up by millions of lights. He leaned back in his seat, swaying their Ferris wheel car slightly, as he looked out at Karakura briefly. The small town could not hold his attention for long and his gaze shifted to the girl sitting beside him. Her auburn hair was lightly tussled by the wind and her grey orbs seemed to sparkle as she stared out on the town. "Beautiful." He commented softly.

Orihime turned and met his heated gaze. The beauty queen flushed and quickly broke eye contact with him and returned her gaze to the landscape. She absentmindedly started rubbing her bare arms as the temperature dropped along with the sun setting. The Karakura high school uniform definitely was not designed for cold Karakura nights. Ichigo immediately noticed her shivering and wrapped his arm around her. Although she tried to remain at ease, she impulsively stiffened. Ichigo sighed before removing his arm. "Something is obviously bothering you."

Orihime looked around nervously. "Who, me?"

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "Yes, you."

The beauty queen twiddled her fingers nervously. "Why do you think something is wrong? I thought we were having a good time…" Orihime trailed off once she met his hurt gaze.

Truth be told, Orihime had been hiding her unease well throughout the day. They had played carnival games, eaten unhealthy fair ground foods, ridden roller coasters, and just generally had a good day. But there was an awkward tension between the red haired pair, and Ichigo had definitely noticed.

"I saw you talking to Senna." Ichigo confessed as he looked out on Karakura. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Orihime stiffen at the mention of his ex-girlfriend's name. "What did she say to you?"

Orihime couldn't make eye contact with her boyfriend as she spit out the answer. "She told me that you cheated on her. And she said that you would cheat on me too." Suddenly, Orihime whipped around and finally faced Ichigo. "She's lying, isn't she Ichigo-kun? I didn't even want to bring it up because I know it's not true and you would never do something like that, but she just got in my head and now I can't stop thinking about it! And I feel so guilty for even considering the thought that you would have ever cheated but-"

"It's true." Ichigo interrupted.

Orihime couldn't stifle her startled gasp.

Before the beauty queen could overanalyze his answer, Ichigo quickly continued. "But I'm sure Senna didn't tell you the whole story." There was a moment of awkward silence as the scowling teenager tried to formulate his explanation while his girlfriend stared at him with big doe eyes. Both teens were startled when the Ferris wheel lurched before continuing with its rotation, but the interruption spurred Ichigo to action.

"My relationship with Senna was always really up and down. When we were good, things were really good. But when we fought, it was World War III. We were off and on again…a lot. Looking back, we really should have broken up way sooner than we did, but I thought she was the one and I wanted it to work. Anyway, second semester sophomore year, we got into a really big fight. So that night Senna went out to some party with some girlfriends and she cheated on me."

Just thinking about Senna's infidelity was causing the vein in Ichigo's neck to throb and his fists to clench. His gaze was focused out on Karakura, but Orihime could still see the hardened glint in his eyes. The pretty teen tentatively reached for his hand and gently squeezed to reassure him. His gaze softened as his eyes met hers and he gave her a small smile before squeezing her hand in return.

"It was a really big party, so a lot of people saw what happened and at school the next day a bunch of people told me what she did. But at first, I didn't believe them. I honestly didn't think she would do anything to hurt me." He scoffed at his past naivety before continuing. "But Rukia was at the party, and she saw Senna making out with some random guy before going upstairs with him. Rukia is my best friend, and I know she would never lie to me. So we broke up, and this time I thought we were broken up for good, but…I missed her so much. I just felt so alone and I realized I needed to be with her."

Orihime shifted uncomfortably in her seat as her boyfriend went on and on about his feelings for his ex-girlfriend. She looked out at Karakura as the Ferris wheel completed an entire resolution so they were now up at the top again. "So we got back together, and I tried to forgive her. But I couldn't. I couldn't stop picturing her with another guy. I was so angry all the time and I started pushing everyone away. Eventually, I started to think the only way me and Senna could work is if we were even. So I did cheat on her. But it was just one time and it was only a kiss. And I felt horrible about it. So I told her what happened, and I apologized, but she broke up with me."

Ichigo had become wrapped up in his own little world during the course of telling his story and it took him a second to snap out of it. He whipped his head to the side and realized Orihime wasn't looking at him. He gently grasped her chin and turned her head until they were making eye contact. "Do you believe me?"

Orihime nodded before smiling shakily. Ichigo frowned as he watched tears well up in her eyes. "What's wrong?" He asked softly, gently caressing her face with the hand that had been holding her chin.

"I just feel bad for you Ichigo-kun. I'm sorry she hurt you." She replied.

"Well, now I have you. And I know you would never do anything to hurt me. And I'm going to try as hard as I can not to hurt you either." Ichigo sealed his promise with a kiss.

II.

"Do you want me to walk you up?"

Orihime dislodged her arms from around Ichigo's waist and took off her helmet. "That's okay Ichigo-kun. My mom shouldn't be home yet, but just in case I don't think we should risk it."

She handed him the helmet before reaching for her purse and her new giant teddy bear. "Orihime, it's really dark out. And since you insisted that I stop four blocks from your house, you have a really long way to walk. I really don't want you walking alone. This isn't the nicest part of town."

Orihime smiled at her boyfriend's overprotective nature. "I'll be fine." She gave her boyfriend a quick reassuring goodbye kiss before she headed home on foot. Orihime pretended not to notice that Ichigo stealthily trailed her all the way home.

III.

"Inoue Orihime, how do you feel about Proposition 19?"

Orihime fidgeted nervously on the couch as she vainly searched her brain for what exactly Proposition 19 was. As the seconds of silence ticked by, her mother's lips curved into a frown.

Mother and daughter were sitting in the living room of their tiny apartment practicing for the Miss Teen Japan pageant. Her mother had already scrutinized her figure as she modeled her bikini, criticized her baton twirling as she practiced her talent, and picked apart her speech about her pageant platform, the Japanese public education system. Now, they had moved on to interview.

"Are you serious Orihime? Have you been studying at all? How do you expect to win a national pageant when you're too lazy to put in any work? You don't care at all do you? Do you have any idea how much work I have been putting into this pageant?" Her mother continued ranting, but Orihime allowed her mind to wander to happier things.

After they had cleared things up at the Karakura Fairgrounds three weeks ago, her and Ichigo's relationship was stable once again. Unfortunately, she hadn't been able to see him much. Her mother was keeping her busy with pageant preparations and appearances as Miss Teen Karakura. The young couple had managed to fit in a dinner date at Ichigo's house a week ago, but with Ichigo's soccer season starting it seemed as if they would never find time for each other. Despite the lack of dates, the two red heads stayed in touch through text message and late night phone calls.

"Are you listening to me?" Ayako screeched once she realized Orihime's mind was wandering.

Orihime quickly snapped out of it. "I'm listening."

Orihime's mother glared at her daughter before reaching for a newspaper lying on the coffee table between the two women. She flung the newspaper at Orihime angrily before storming out of the room.

Orihime sighed sadly before she opened the newspaper and brushed up on her current events.

IV.

"Thank you all for coming out to the grand opening of Hueco Mundo, Karakura's newest, and greatest, salon. And here to cut the ribbon is Miss Teen Karakura, Inoue Orihime, and the owner of The Miss Teen Karakura pageant and a good friend of mine, Aizen Sōsuke!" The owner of the salon stepped aside so Orihime and Aizen could take the spotlight.

Local journalists snapped pictures as Orihime and Aizen approached the podium. Orihime managed to smile although inside her skin was crawling at Aizen's proximity. The smile slipped from her face as Aizen placed a hand on her lower back and posed for the journalists. Even after the flashing cameras stopped, he did not remove his hand.

Aizen smiled charmingly at the crowd before launching into a speech about the new salon. Orihime nodded occasionally and smiled prettily, but she couldn't focus on anything Aizen was saying as his hand was inching lower until it actually rested on her perky backside. He continued his speech nonchalantly as he audaciously squeezed her behind. Orihime could not believe that Aizen would publicly grope her. Since the owner of the salon was standing behind them, she knew he could see what was going on. She made eye contact with him but he just looked away guiltily. As soon as Aizen stopped speaking Orihime immediately seized the opportunity and tore away from Aizen toward the ribbon. An aide handed her a pair of scissors and she smiled for the cameras as she cut the ribbon.

V.

Because Orihime's mom had a date with some alcoholic she had met at the bar, Orihime was free to do as she pleased after the Hueco Mundo opening. So of course, she called Ichigo and he agreed to meet her at a popular sushi restaurant. Although Orihime was excited to see Ichigo since she hadn't seen him since dinner two weeks ago, as she walked the few blocks to the restaurant she couldn't stop thinking about Aizen. She shivered as she recalled the feeling of his hands on her body. The worst part was, she had no idea who to confide in. As she had learned today, obviously a lot of people were wiling to overlook Aizen's indiscretions. She considered telling Ichigo, but because of his volatile temper, she was afraid of what he would do.

As she turned the corner, she saw Ichigo waiting for her outside the restaurant. He was leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets as he watched people walk past. He spotted her out of the corner of his eye and immediately straightened up. Once she reached him, the taller teen immediately pulled her into a hug.

"Hey stranger." She greeted once he released her.

"And whose fault is that? Yeah, I am somewhat busy with soccer but your pageant schedule is crazy." Ichigo retorted as they walked inside.

"Well, on the bright side, we are basically already in a long distance relationship so if I end up winning Miss Teen Japan, we'll be used to it!" Orihime interjected.

"Good point." Ichigo replied.

The teen couple found a booth, sat down, and started looking through the menu. Once the waitress came by and they both ordered, Ichigo struck up a conversation.

"So, how is the pageant preparation going? Only seven more weeks, right?" Ichigo asked.

Orihime nodded as she sipped on her ice tea. "Yeah, seven more weeks. It is going okay, I guess. I honestly just want it to be over." Orihime confided. "How is soccer going?" Orihime questioned.

Ichigo shrugged. "We're undefeated." He said nonchalantly. Orihime smirked at the way that even while Ichigo tried to be modest, his inner arrogance still shone through. "What are you smirking at?" He asked as he took her hand in his.

"Nothing." She answered as she squeezed his hand.

VI.

Ichigo pulled over around the corner from Orihime's apartment. After Orihime handed Ichigo his helmet back, she hesitated to return to her apartment. "I have a bad feeling." She confided once Ichigo noticed her apprehension.

Ichigo stood up and wrapped Orihime in his arms. Although she did feel somewhat comforted, she couldn't shake her bad feeling. The couple stayed like that for a few moments before Orihime broke away from the hug.

"Feeling better?" Ichigo asked.

Orihime nodded and the couple kissed goodbye before Orihime went home. Once she got home, the beauty queen decided to take a shower and turn in early.

After a nice relaxing shower, Orihime put on a bathrobe and was drying her hair as she headed to her room. When she opened the door, she saw that her room was a disaster zone. It almost looked as if she had been robbed. Drawers were open, trophies were strewn all over the floor, her bed had been unmade, and the pillows were all over the floor.

"Did you really think you could get away with it?"

Orihime stiffened at the sound of her mother's voice behind her. Although Orihime didn't turn around, she could feel that her mother was now right behind her.

"I honestly can't believe how selfish and stupid you are." Orihime could smell the alcohol on her mother's breath as she continued talking.

Suddenly Orihime's mother threw something on the floor, smashing it into many pieces. It took Orhime a moment to realize it was her cell phone.

"If you weren't so unbelievably stupid, you might have deleted the call history and old text messages." When Orihime didn't react to her words, Ayako grabbed a fistful of her auburn hair and yanked hard.

"Aaaahh!" Orihime shrieked as she was yanked into a wall.

"You really don't get it, do you? This pageant is the most important thing that will ever happen to you. And Ichigo? Get over him already! All men are the same, they act all nice at first, and before you know it you're knocked up and stuck with them. That's when their true colors come out. He is just a distraction. And I'm not going to let him ruin everything we have worked for. Pack your stuff. We're moving."

A/N: So, tell me what you thought!

Review Responses:

Nel: Thank you!

Blitch: Thank you! I hope you enjoyed the date scene, but unfortunately, there is more drama ahead.

Somerlia: Thank you for your review! Senna is kind of a bitch, but most girls are possessive of exes. : P

Fostersb: Thank you for reviewing so consistently! Yeah, Orihime should have more faith in Ichigo, but Senna is pretty persuasive.

Aijou829: You called it! Thanks for reviewing!

monkey dreamer: Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you liked that part, the story can't be all drama, it needs some humor too!

nypsy: Woah, the whole thing in a day? That is impressive! Thank you for reviewing!


	13. Chapter 13

I.

_Beeeeeeeeeep. I'm sorry. Your call cannot be completed as dialed. Please hang up and try again._

Ichigo sighed in exasperation after getting the same message for the thousandth time. He tried to text Orihime's number, but his phone lit up with a message alerting him that his text had not been sent. He allowed his phone to fall out of his hand as he buried his face into his pillows.

Something was definitely wrong. He hadn't seen or heard from his girlfriend since he had dropped her off a month ago. After two days without any contact from her, he had gone to her apartment. After frantically banging on the door for five minutes, a neighbor had finally informed him that Orihime and her mother had moved.

Ichigo had no idea where she was. Beyond obviously just missing her, he was worried about her. He knew, or at least he hoped, physical abuse wouldn't be an issue so close to the Miss Teen Japan pageant, but mental and verbal abuse weren't off limits. He wanted to protect her, but he doesn't even know where she is.

II.

_Tokyo, Japan_

The high-rise hotel had a great view of Tokyo. From the window, Orihime could have been enjoying the picturesque landscape, but instead the young beauty queen was lost in her own thoughts. She missed Karakura, she missed all her friends, but most of all she missed Ichigo. She found herself spending most of her day wondering what Ichigo was doing at the moment. Considering she hadn't spoken to him for a month, she wondered if he had moved on. She wasn't stupid. Ichigo was a good looking guy and he had other options.

Her musings were interrupted when the hotel room door slammed shut. Orihime glanced over her shoulder and watched her mom struggle to keep hold of several bags she was carrying. Her gaze returned to the glittering world outside.

The elder woman dropped her bags on the floor before glaring at her daughter. "Well, don't jump up to help or anything."

Orihime stood from the window seat and approached the bags. The bags were full of things for the pageant. Nail polish, hair products, skin crèmes, and clothes.

Her mother had really stepped up the pageant preparations in the last four weeks. Orihime spent every waking moment practicing her walk, answering mock interview questions, practicing her baton routine, and exercising to make sure she would look good in her clothes.

Without friends or a boyfriend to distract her, she should have been very well prepared for the pageant. But she missed her old life in Karakura so much it was hard for her to focus on the pageant at all. Her mother had definitely noticed, and she didn't like it one bit.

III.

Ayako watched Orihime as she took all the pageant supplies to organize in her room with narrowed eyes. The Miss Teen Japan pageant was only three weeks away and her no good daughter was no where near prepared! Ayako scowled and kicked one of the discarded bags in frustration.

"What is wrong with her! Doesn't she realize how important this is?" Ayako asked no one in particular.

She thought getting Orihime out of Karakura would solve all their problems, but it definitely wasn't working. Her naturally absentminded daughter was more spacey and distracted than ever. Without complete focus, there was no way she would be prepared to sin the pageant. Of course, she had inherited good lucks from her mother, but there was more to a beauty pageant than beauty.

Ayako paced nervously as she weighed her options. As of now, Orihime was the front runner for Miss Teen Japan. If she lost the competition, Orihime's value would drop significantly. Therefore, Ayako had to act now.

Ayako plopped down onto the couch and reached for the telephone resting on the coffee table.

_Ring….ring…..ring…."Hello?"_

"Hi. This is Ayako, Orihime's mother. I have a business proposition for you."

IV.

_One week later_

Orihime heard the doorbell ring, but the pretty teen did not move from her position lying on the couch. The doorbell rang again, and this time Orihime slowly rolled herself off the couch.

She was sore. This morning, her mother had told her they were going out to breakfast to talk. Once they got to the small café in downtown Tokyo, her mother had enjoyed pancakes and toast as she criticized Orihime's figure. Even though she had lost ten pounds from all the exercising and her general depression, her mother thought she needed to lose more.

Orihime was only allowed to drink water and eat a grapefruit without any sugar. Once they had finished eating, her mother wouldn't allow her back into the car. Orihime jogged the entire ten miles home as her mother trailed her in the car to ensure she wouldn't run off.

Orihime massaged her aching back as she approached the door. The doorbell rang again. Orihime unlocked the door.

"Why hello Orihime, its been so long since I've had the pleasure of your company." Aizen chimed as he stepped past the stunned beauty queen into the hotel room.

Aizen ignored Orihime as she sputtered in shock and took a seat on the coach, resting his expensive Armani dress shoes on the coffee table as he reclined comfortably.

The door swinging shut by itself snapped Orihime out of her stupor. "What are you doing here?" She tried to sound confident, but her fear was very evident in her trembling voice.

Aizen raised one eyebrow. "Ayako didn't tell you?"

Before the auburn haired teen could question exactly what her mother hadn't told her, said woman walked into the room.

"Sōsuke! Thank you so much for coming so quickly." Aizen stood from the couch and hugged Ayako as if they were reunited long lost friends.

"It is my pleasure to be here." Aizen countered, all the while keeping an arrogant smirk on his face.

"Why is he here?" Orihime addressed her question to her mother.

Ayako directed a sharp glare in her daughter's direction. "The adults are talking right now sweetie." She sneered.

"Well, Orihime does need to be included in this conversation." Aizen informed Ayako, who glowered and reluctantly made room for her daughter on the coach where she and Aizen were sitting.

Orihime hesitantly sat between Aizen and her mother.

Aizen placed his briefcase on the coffee table. With a resounding click, the briefcase was opened and Aizen pulled out an official looking stack of papers. He took a pen out of his suit pocket and tried to hand it to Orihime.

Orihime hesitated to take the pen. "What am I supposed to be signing?" She questioned.

Aizen smiled predatorily. "An exclusive 4 year contract with The Aizen Modeling Agency."

A/N: Thank you for reading! Please review! Until next time!

Aya: Glad you liked it! It does take me a while to update, but this fic will definitely not be dropped! I should be able to finish by this summer hopefully.

Ever: Thank you! Hope you like the latest chapter!

Somerlia: Thank you for reviewing! Yeah, the roman numerals do just signal scene changes. I used to do a cool ~~~~**** thing, but then took them out.

LoveAngelDreams: Hope you liked the update!

luvtousall: Hopefully the wait wasn't too long, thank you for reviewing!

lydia: Thank you!

nypsy: Hope you like the new chapter! Some of your predictions might come true in the near future! : p


	14. Chapter 14

Author's Note: Hey guys! It is finally Summer and I am definitely going to finish this story. After this one, there will only be one or two more chapters. Thank you for sticking this out with me although I always take forever to update. Here is chapter 14!

I.

"No." The pretty teen finally responded.

Her mother turned her shocked and angry eyes toward her daughter. "Excuse me?"

Orihime turned her defiant stare to her mother. "I won't sign it. I don't want to model. Especially not with him."

Aizen's smile dropped from his face as he slowly lowered the pen he had been offering to Orihime.

Orihime's mother gripped the young woman's arm tightly and pulled her to a corner of the room. Orihime winced at her mother's grip. It would surely bruise but her mother seemed to be too angry in the current moment to care.

"You will sign that contract." Ayako stated with no room for negotiation.

"No. I won't." Orihime tried to counter confidently, but the fear in her voice lessened the power of her statement.

As the two auburn haired women argued in angry whispers, Aizen looked on from the couch. Although he couldn't hear the conversation word for word, the successful businessman could understand the gist of the argument. His frown deepened as Orihime continued to refuse.

Although he did have an inappropriate interest in the young Miss Teen Japan contestant, first and foremost he was a businessman and he cared about making money. With her fair skin, generous body proportions, and shockingly bright hair, Orihime was definitely a valuable commodity. She would stand out from the typical Japanese models that filled the pages of all the popular fashion magazines. He inwardly berated himself for letting his attraction to Orihime jeopardize a good business deal.

"Orihime." Both women stopped their arguing and turned to look at him following his interruption. "Can I speak to you? Privately."

She looked ready to refuse but Ayako spoke before the beauty queen could get a word in edgewise. "Of course. I'm just going to step outside for a moment." Ayako quickly walked outside of the hotel room and closed the door behind her.

Aizen stood from the couch and Orihime reflexively stepped back as he approached. Her retreat was halted when she hit a wall. Luckily, Aizen obviously sensed her discomfort because he stopped several feet away from her, which Orihime was grateful for.

"I know you're uncomfortable around me." Aizen started and Orihime almost rolled her eyes at the obviousness of his statement. "But I would like to emphasize that this is business. I can separate my business life from my personal life. And although I'm sure you've noticed I have a…personal… interest in you, this is business. My models are successful, and I know you would be extremely successful. We would travel all over the world. New York, Paris, Morocco, all the fashion capitals."

Aizen continued talking, but Orihime had stopped listening. All over the world? With Aizen? No matter what Aizen said about his 'professional' interest in her, she would never forget what she saw with Aizen and Loly at the pageant. She would never be able to get past the revulsion she felt when he publically groped her at the Hueco Mundo opening. And she knew if she signed that contract, if she went with him, he wouldn't stop pursuing her. And more importantly, if she was traveling all the time, when she would be able to have the normal life she craved so badly?

Orihime shook her head to rid herself of her reveries when she realized Aizen had been trying to get her attention for several moments. Seeing that her eyes finally focused on him, Aizen restated his offer.

"So for four years you would be signed exclusively with the Aizen Modeling Agency. Of course, if you win Miss Teen Japan I would be willing to postpone enforcement of the contract until after you finish your year as Miss Teen Japan. As far as payment, I am willing to offer you a 50% share of any profits. And I would like to make it clear that this is a much more generous offer than I have ever presented to any model before you, but I am so sure of your success that I feel it is only fair for us to share everything 50/50."

"What about my mom? She doesn't get anything out of this deal?" Orihime asked, more out of curiosity than any actual consideration of taking Aizen's offer.

"No. I feel it would best if she is not involved. When she called me, she made it clear that if I want to work with you she also has to be involved. She wants to travel with you at all times and she wanted complete control of any money you make. But I don't see any reason for her to be involved. Like I said, I'm a businessman and I know it is always more efficient to cut out the middleman. I know you're not 18 so you need parental consent for any decision you make, but I feel you are a strong candidate for emancipation."

Orihime was shocked when Aizen retrieved his suitcase from the coffee table and pulled out emancipation paperwork. He handed the paperwork to Orihime who took the offered papers without really thinking about it. "Usually it takes time to get the paperwork through the courts, but I know people so with my help we could have you emancipated in two weeks, just in time for the pageant."

Orihime slowly sank into the couch and her hands shook at the gravity of the papers in her hand. She would be lying if she said she had never considered emancipating herself from her mother, but she would have never had the courage to go to the courts and get the paperwork necessary to free herself from her mother once and for all.

Aizen sat beside the teen and placed a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her, but it just made Orihime more uncomfortable. "I'm sure you realize why you can't let your mother know about any of this. She seems somewhat…." Aizen paused, searching for the right word. "Volatile" he finally supplied.

Aizen continued talking once he realized Orihime wasn't going to say anything. "After you sign the contract, just continue with your pageant preparations like normal and let your mom believe that she will be accompanying us when the time comes. But in reality, after the pageant I will get you your own apartment here in Tokyo where you can live independently."

Before Orihime could formulate any type of response, there was a hesitant knocking on the door before Ayako stuck her head through the door. "You guys done?" Ayako asked.

II.

"Mom. There is something you should know about Aizen." Orihime interjected as her mother continued to give her reason after reason why she needed to sign the contract.

The mother and daughter had excused themselves from Aizen's presence 20 minutes before and were now having a private conversation in the master bedroom. Well, it should have been a conversation but instead Ayako cut off Orihime every time she tried to speak.

Ayako stopped her pacing and finally acknowledged that Orihime had said something, but her tone clearly indicated that she did not appreciate the interruption. "What?"

Orihime nervously twirled a strand of her long auburn hair around her finger and avoided her mother's gaze, choosing instead to focus on the plush carpeting in her mother's room. Her mother's patience quickly wore thin and she started to tap her foot impatiently. "Well? What about him?" Ayako asked.

Orihime finally met her mother's gaze. "He's not who he portrays himself to be."

Ayako rolled her eyes. "So who is he then?" She questioned.

"He's not someone you can trust. He doesn't have any sense of right and wrong." Orihime continued.

"Who can you trust nowadays? And I'm not worried about a sense of right and wrong. In fact, nice guys finish last so it's better that he's not hung up on doing what's right." Ayako justified.

"He's a pedophile." Orihime finally spit out.

"Oh grow up." Ayako said with a voice full of exasperation. "You're 16. You're not exactly a child. You don't have to do anything you don't want to do, but if I were you I would encourage whatever interest he has in you. That way, even if the modeling doesn't work out, maybe he would still be willing to support you financially."

Orihime's mouth dropped open in shock at her mother's words. Did she really not care? Would it really not bother her to leave her only daughter in the care of someone like Aizen? "You don't care about me at all, do you?" The question had tumbled out of the beauty queen's mouth before she could stop it.

"Can you think about someone besides yourself for one second! Do you have any idea how much money I have invested in you? I've given up all my dreams to help you follow yours!" Orihime's mother shouted directly in the beauty queen's face.

"This was never my dream." The petite red head stated quietly. "This was never about me. You honestly don't care about me at all do you?"

Orihime's question had been rhetorical and she continued on without giving her mother the chance to respond. Ayako was surprised to see tears in her daughter's eyes when she met her gaze. "I love you mom. You're the only family I have and I really wanted to have a good relationship with you. But you obviously don't love me. " Orihime stood from the bed and headed toward the door. Her mother suddenly stepped into her path.

"Where do you think you're going?" Ayako demanded to know.

Orihime ignored her mother's question and tried to step around her, but this time Ayako gripped her arm tightly and forced Orihime to face her. "You're not messing this up for me. Not when we are so close!"

Orihime finally snapped and wrenched her arm free. "There is no WE! If I sign with Aizen you are not getting anything!" Ayako's eyes widened in shock. "Yeah, he cut you out. Like I said, he is not the most loyal or trustworthy person. And if I win Miss Teen Japan, I"LL be Miss Teen Japan, not YOU! I'm sick and tired of letting you run my life! It's over for you! Move on! You're not going to live vicariously through me any more!"

Orihime crashed to the floor from the force of her mother's slap. She tried to scramble to her feet, but she was knocked back to the ground when her mother kicked her side violently.

"You selfish bitch. Who do you think you are?" Ayako yanked her daughter's hair when she tried to stand once more and Orihime let out a yelp of pain before falling back to the ground. "Without me, you would be no one!" She punctuated this last statement with a kick to her daughter's other side. "You are nothing! Worthless! Stupid! Selfish WHORE!" Ayako dropped to the floor alongside her daughter and scratched at her daughter's face with her long manicured nails. She was so enraged that she ignored the small voice in the back of her mind reminding her that the pageant was only two weeks away.

Although Orihime had finally come to accept that she and her mother had a toxic relationship and it was for the best for them to separate, the beauty queen did not want to hit her own mother. She tried to block her mother's blows but one particularly vicious swipe of her mother's long nails cut from the corner of her right eye to her ear. The pain of the cut caused Orihime to instinctively reach a hand up to her face to stop the bleeding, and her mother took advantage of this opportunity to push Orihime until she laid completely on the ground.

Once she was down, Ayako reached for her neck. Orihime sputtered as her oxygen supply was cut off. She tried to claw her mother's hands off of her throat, but Ayako's grip only tightened. Orihime started to panic as she got a good look at her mother's face. Her eyes held a murderous intent. It was almost as if she had completely forgotten that it was her own flesh and blood that was currently writhing beneath her in a desperate attempt to get air.

Just as Orihime's vision started to cloud and she realized she was about to pass out, Ayako was pulled off of Orihime. Aizen glared at Ayako as he held the two women apart. "What the hell is going on in here?"

Orihime rubbed her sore neck and wiped tears from her eyes before running from the room, ignoring Aizen's calls for her to return.

III.

"Next!"

Orihime walked up to the train station clerk. She forced a pretty smile on her face despite the tribulations of the day. The young clerk blushed before returning a smile.

"I would like one ticket to Karakura Town please."

"Alright. That will be 10000 yen."

Orihime bit her lower lip worriedly. 10000 yen? Before running from the hotel, she had gone back to her room and hurriedly packed a suitcase with essentials, including the emancipation papers, and a change of clothes. She also took 5500 yen she had managed to save by taking a few hundred yen from several paid appearances without telling her mother. But that was all the money she had and it wasn't even enough to get back home.

The clerk seemed to realize what her problem was. He leaned forward so none of the other customers would hear. "Miss, do you have the money?"

Orihime sadly shook her head no. "I have some of it, 5500 yen, but that is all the money I have in the world. How far can I get with that?" Orihime cursed herself for not having anyone's cell phone number memorized. She knew if she had some way to get in touch with Ichigo, he would come out to Tokyo immediately to get her. But she had no way to get in touch with anyone and now she was in quite the dilemma.

"If you give me 5000, you can go to Karakura." The clerk said.

Orihime looked at him in shock. "Really? I don't want you to get in any trouble."

"It's no problem. I'll just give you the frequent traveler discount. No one will suspect anything." He said with a smile.

"Thank you so much! You have no idea how much I needed this."

IV.

Ichigo slowly regained consciousness. He sleepily rubbed his eyes before looking at the red numbers on his alarm clock. 1:27 AM flashed before his eyes. He rolled over so he could watch the rain through his window. He didn't like the rain. On the day his mother died in the accident, it had been raining. It had also rained at her funeral. On that day, he had been thankful for the rain. It made it impossible for people to tell whether the droplets running down his face were tears or rain.

Over the soft sound of the rain pattering on the roof, he heard the doorbell and belatedly realized the doorbell ringing previously had woken him up in the first place. He glanced at the clock again. What was going on? Why would anyone be at his house at 1:28 in the morning? Maybe it was someone who needed the clinic. The scowling teenager threw his covers to the side and dragged himself out of his nice warm bed.

Ichigo had been sleeping in just a pair of plaid pajama pants so he threw on a worn white t-shirt before stepping into the hallway.

"Onii-chan." Ichigo turned around at the sound of his sister's call.

Yuzu and Karin were standing in the doorway of their room. Karin was rubbing her eyes sleepily while Yuzu still clutched Bostov, a lion plushie that she still slept with despite the fact that she was almost thirteen.

"Hey. You guys can go back to sleep. I've got it." He informed his little sisters.

"Well, we're already up." Karin grumbled before pushing past her brother and heading down the stairs. Yuzu and Ichigo trailed behind her. The doorbell rang again.

"Geez, we're coming. Keep your pants on." Karin mumbled as she reached the door and looked through the eyehole. The rain had fogged up the eyehole and Karin could only make out that the figure outside was female. She could also see that whoever it was, she was shivering as she stood in the rain. Deciding that the girl didn't pose any danger, Karin slowly opened the door. "Can we help you?"

"Hi Karin-chan! Is your brother home?"

Ichigo immediately stepped in front of Karin and pulled Orihime out of the rain and clutched her to his chest. He didn't realize his hands were shaking until he attempted to run a hand through her wet hair. "Orihime." he greeted shakily as he managed to pull far enough away from him so he could look her in the eyes.

She smiled prettily. "Hi Ichigo-kun! How are you?"

Momentarily forgetting that his sisters were even present, he eagerly engaged her in a passionate kiss. He placed both hands on her waist as her hands tangled in his hair. He tilted his head and deepened the kiss, tangling his tongue with her's.

Isshin's loud "Ahh hmm" as he cleared his throat caused the teens to remember where they were and spring away from each other.

Yuzu had covered her eyes in embarrassment while Karin's look of shock morphed into a smirk as her brother and Orihime flushed red.

Isshin bounded down the stairs and swept Orihime up into a hug, ignoring the fact that she was soaking wet.

"Orihime-chan! You have returned to us although you could do so much better than my idiot son!"

V.

Yuzu came back down the stairs with a towel.

"Here you go Orihime." Yuzu chimed as she handed over the towel.

"Thank you so much Yuzu-chan!" Orihime ran the towel through her damp hair before wrapping the towel around herself and settling down on the arm of the seat Ichigo currently occupied. Yuzu, Karin, and Isshin made themselves comfortable on the couch across from the red headed pair.

"So, as happy as I am to see you here Orihime-chan, what exactly brings you here?" Isshin asked.

As soon as Ichigo had gotten over his initial jubilation at seeing Orihime again, he had noticed her obvious injuries. Along with a split lip, she had a bruise along the right side of her face and a cut running from the edge of her right eye to her ear. He had demanded to know if she had any other injuries, but he could tell she didn't want to say anything in front of his whole family.

None of her injuries required any serious medical intervention, just band- aids and Neosporin, but this did little to assuage Ichigo's rage. It was taking all his will power to not call the police immediately and have Ayako arrested. But he knew Orihime would never forgive him, so he didn't call.

Orihime fidgeted uncomfortably as she contemplated Isshin's question. "Well, I ran away from home. I didn't know where else to go for tonight. Sorry about waking all of you up. I'm going to start looking for my own place and a job tomorrow and I would really appreciate it if you guys didn't mind letting me stay here just for tonight."

"You can stay however long you need to." Ichigo responded immediately and he was glad to see his dad and sisters nod in agreement.

Yuzu yawned loudly and immediately covered her mouth in embarrassment. Isshin chuckled before looking at the clock. "1:47? It is way past your bedtime girls. Plus, it's a school night. "

The girls shuffled off to bed after saying quick goodnights to Ichigo, Isshin, and Orihime. Once the girls were safely out of ear shot, Isshin turned his attention to the red headed couple.

"Orihime, as a doctor I took a Hippocratic Oath and I have a responsibility to do what is right. I couldn't help but notice your bruises. Orihime, are your parents abusive?" Isshin asked, all earlier mirth forgotten.

Orihime shifted uncomfortably. "Its just my mom. And although she can be verbally abusive which is why I left, she didn't do this. All the rain made the streets slippery and I fell on my way from the train station. I didn't have enough for a cab so I walked here, I'm naturally really clumsy…" Orihime lied without making eye contact with Isshin.

Isshin didn't believe her excuses, but he decided to let it go. For now at least. "Alright. Just be more careful in the future. Now, you're more than welcome to stay here as long as you need, but I don't feel comfortable allowing you and Ichigo to stay in the same room. I mean, what kind of father would I be if I allowed my only son, not even 17, to share a bed with such an attractive young lady? It would be irresponsible! I don't want to have to deal with any unplanned teenage pregnancies….."

"Alright! We get it!" Ichigo interrupted before his father could say anything else embarrassing.

"So who wants the couch?" Isshin asked the teens.

Ichigo glared at his father. "What kind of question is that? Would you really even consider allowing Orihime, our guest, to sleep on this old lumpy couch?"

"Alright, no need to get so emotional about it. Good night you two! Don't let the bed bugs bite!" Isshin yawned as he climbed back up the stairs to his room.

Ichigo stood from his seat and grabbed Orihime's small suitcase. "Come on. I'll help you get situated." He offered before leading her to his room.

VI.

Once Orihime had showered and changed into dry clothes, an old shirt of Ichigo's paired with Karin's athletic shorts, she made her way back to Ichigo's room. He had just finished changing the sheets and pillowcases and was placing the old sheets in the hamper when she walked in.

"I really don't mind sleeping on the couch Ichigo-kun. I don't want to impose and kick you out of your own room." Orihime tried to argue once again, but Ichigo shot her an exasperated look.

"For the last time, I'm not letting you sleep on the couch. What kind of guy do you think I am? I'll be on the couch, you'll sleep in here. End of discussion."

Orihime worriedly bit her lip, but she didn't try to argue with him again. She knew how stubborn he was. He grabbed a pillow off of the bed before heading toward the door. As an after thought, he quickly kissed her goodnight before turning off the light and shutting the door behind him.

Two hours later, Orihime still couldn't sleep. The bed was extremely comfortable and Ichigo's scent from the blankets should have helped lull her to sleep, but she felt guilty. She didn't want him to have to sleep on a couch while she stole his comfortable bed. She tossed and turned for another ten minutes before giving up.

She crept down the stairs as silently as possible, wincing as the steps creaked beneath her weight. She could hear Ichigo snoring softly and from the staircase she could see his foot hanging off the end of the couch.

As she walked to the front of the couch, she could see he was not sleeping in a comfortable position. His blanket was lying on the floor, it had obviously fallen off as he twisted and turned, and he was in an awkward contorted position on the couch.

"Ichigo-kun?" She mumbled softly.

He stirred a little, but he remained asleep. She gently shook his shoulder. "Ichigo-kun?" This time, she said his name a little louder.

His eyes slowly opened. "What?" He muttered sleepily as his eyes focused on her.

"Can I please sleep on the couch?" She asked

He squeezed his eyes shut and let out an irritated sigh. "Are you serious?"

She fidgeted uncomfortably. "I feel really bad that I'm sleeping in your bed while you're on the couch. I honestly can't sleep. It would be better if we just switched."

"You're not sleeping on the couch." He reiterated. He finally noticed the blanket on the floor and picked it up and set if over himself before closing his eyes again.

"But I can't sleep." She insisted.

"Try harder." He replied.

She pouted as he continued to argue with her. He cracked an eye open and looked at her. "Still here?"

She crossed her arms. "I'm not going back to bed." She knew this fight was somewhat childish, but she didn't like that he wasn't listening to her.

He frowned and seemed to contemplate his options for several moments. Suddenly he swung his long legs off of the couch and stood up. "Fine." He stated before throwing her over his shoulder and heading for his room.

Soon, they reached their destination and he tossed her gently onto the bed. He settled into the bed beside her and wrapped his arms around her waist, her back against his chest.

"Didn't Kurosaki-san say he didn't want us sleeping in the same bed?" She reminded him.

"We're not going to do anything." He justified.

"But still, Kurosaki-san was nice enough to let me stay in his home and I don't want to disrespect him." She insisted.

"Orihime?"

"Yes?"

"Shut up and go to sleep." Although his words were harsh, his tone held no malice, he just sounded sleepy.

She complied and soon both teens were sound asleep.

A/N: Another chapter done! Next chapter will tie up loose ends and then possibly an epilogue. Please review!

Reviewer Responses:

luversblues: Thank you! Hopefully the wait wasn't too long!

Mosspaw: Yeah, signing any contract with Aizen clearly woudn't have been a good

idea.

nypsy: Well, now Orihime is finally away from her mom. A girl can only be docile for so long before she snaps!

The0Blind0Writer: Well, she didn't exactly rip up the contract but she knew better than to sign anything that would bind her to Aizen.

uzamaki898: Kurosaki-kun to the rescue! Thank you for reviewing!

Aya: Hope you liked the Ichigo Orihime reunion! Thank you for reviewing!

Over 100 reviews! Thank you guys so much! I'll try to update again soon!


	15. Chapter 15

I.

"No Kurosaki-kun, if you eat the Queen's English muffin they'll have you beheaded!"

Ichigo raised an eyebrow at Orihime's sleep talking. English muffin? And for some reason in her dreams he was Kurosaki-kun instead of Ichigo-kun. He smiled bemusedly as she continued to mutter nonsense as she slept.

Orihime had been living with the Kurosaki family for a week. While Isshin worked and the Kurosaki children went to school, Orihime spent her days filling out the emancipation paperwork, looking for an affordable apartment, and looking for a job once she was released from her Miss Teen Karakura contract.

"No Chizuru-chan, I'm pretty sure I'm not a lesbian." Orihime mumbled before snuggling closer to Ichigo as she continued to slumber.

Ichigo's bemused smile fell from his lips as he noticed her pajama shirt was riding up, exposing her still bruised sides.

He had first seen the bruises the first morning after she arrived. She had been tossing and turning all night, obviously still upset about what had happened with her mother, and her constant movement had caused his borrowed shirt to ride up, exposing the large purple bruises on her sides.

_She had woken up suddenly once she felt the ice pack he was holding to her side. She was about to scold him for not warning her, but her complaints died on her lips once she met his smoldering amber eyes._

_ "How many more bruises are there? What happened last night?' He demanded to know._

_ She told him everything, even the stuff about Aizen once he promised her he wouldn't do anything rash. She sighed as she reached the end of her dramatic story. "I really thought she was going to kill me." She absentmindedly rubbed her throat as she recalled the feeling of her mother's hands choking her. _

_ Ichigo held the beauty queen as she started to cry. "I'm sorry Orihime. I'm so sorry."_

_ Slowly, her tears started to subside. "Ichigo-kun-"_

_ Whatever she wanted to say was interrupted when Isshin slammed the door open. "Just as I expected!" Isshin immediately accused. _

_ Ichigo quickly threw back the covers so his father could see both teens were fully clothed. "We just slept. Nothing happened." He reassured his father._

_ Isshin frowned. "Nothing? Drats. My reverse psychology failed! I even went through all the trouble of leaving all those condoms in your drawer!" _

_ Both teens gaped at the elder Kurosaki. _

_ "WHAT!" Ichigo exclaimed. _

_ "Well, you're always so uptight. And I think your problem is lack of sex. Now I know you're not a virgin, obviously with the Kurosaki charm and good looks that would be impossible, but you have clearly been on too long of a dry spell!"_

_ Ichigo launched himself at his father. The two men scuffled on the floor and threw punches at one another. Orihime quickly scurried out of bed and tried to separate the two Kurosaki men before someone got hurt. _

_ Karin and Yuzu showed up in the doorway. Karin rolled her eyes. "Just another Wednesday morning in the Kurosaki household."_

Ichigo softly brushed the bruised flesh with his fingertips. It was healing well, it would probably be gone within the week, but they served as ugly reminders of what she had gone through. What he hadn't protected her from. But now she was here, she was with him, and he would make sure no one ever hurt her again.

She stirred and her eyelids slowly fluttered open. She beamed at him as she woke up. He couldn't help but return her smile. He could definitely get used to waking up like this.

"Good morning Ichigo-kun."

"Morning."

She turned so she could see the clock. "Almost time for breakfast! Yuzu-chan finally agreed that I can help her cook this morning!" She chirped happily.

Ichigo gulped in fear. Something else he had learned from living with her for the last week was that she was a terrible cook. He had known she had strange tastes in food, but even when attempting to make normal food somehow she always managed to make something not edible. He could only hope Yuzu, being the great cook she was, could somehow rub off on Orihime.

Orihime didn't notice his apprehension because she had already rolled out of bed and was searching through her suitcase for clothes for the day. He had told her she could have a drawer or place her clothes in his closet, but she insisted she didn't want to impose. Finding a pretty yellow sundress she liked, she skipped off to the bathroom to change.

II.

"Ichigo, you finally decided to join us." Isshin greeted once his son took his place at the table.

"Shut up old man. I couldn't find a clean school shirt." Ichigo explained his tardiness.

"Don't worry Onii-chan. You're just in time." Yuzu said as she came into the dining room carrying a platter of food. Karin trailed after her with plates and glasses and started setting the table.

"Where's Orihime?" Ichigo asked.

"She's still cooking. She's almost done, but she wanted everything to be perfect." Yuzu answered.

Just then Orihime walked into the room carrying a large morning cake. Before setting it on the table, Orihime addressed the entire Kurosaki family. "Before we eat, I want to thank you all for your hospitality. Although I have only been here for a week, you have all made me feel so welcome. After years of feeling so alone, the last week has been one of the best of my life. After losing my brother, I felt like I didn't have a true loving family. But now because of all of you I finally feel like I have a family again. So thank you."

By the end of her speech, tears had welled up in her eyes but she fought to keep them from falling.

Isshin and Yuzu were unabashedly sobbing and clinging to each other for support. "So moving!" Isshin managed to stammer out before he succumbed to more tears.

Ichigo scowled as he absorbed her words. "Why does it sound like you're saying goodbye?" He asked.

Orihime placed the cake on the table, she had decorated it with frosting and it read 'Thank you Kurosaki family!' complete with drawings of all the Kurosakis. Ichigo's drawn face was scowling, matching his real life counterpart's current expression.

"I have to meet with Aizen-san today. I don't know if my mom is going to be there or not, so I don't know if I'm going to be able to come back here."

"You're not meeting with Aizen." Ichigo immediately demanded.

"I kind of have to Ichigo-kun. I'm under a legally binding contract as Miss Teen Karakura." Orihime countered weakly.

"After everything you told me, did you really think I would be okay with you and Aizen being in the same room together?"

The rest of the Kurosaki family looked confused as Ichigo and Orihime argued.

Karin finally decided to ask what everyone else was thinking. "Orihime, is Aizen the reason you came here with all those bruises?"

"No! No, of course not. At least, not directly…" The beauty queen trailed off, not wanting to go into any more detail.

"You're not going." Ichigo reiterated.

"But I have to!"

"Why don't you just go with her?" Yuzu offered a feasible solution.

III.

"What are you looking for?" Chad asked once he realized Ichigo was not paying attention to the group's conversation as they sat on the roof for lunch.

Ichigo briefly looked away from the parking lot and turned back to face his friends. "Orihime is supposed to meet me here. She has some Miss Teen Karakura meeting that I'm taking her to." Ichigo explained.

Rukia raised an eyebrow. "You're missing the rest of school to go to Orihime's meeting?"

"It's a long story." Ichigo muttered before returning to searching for his auburn haired girlfriend. He suddenly spotted her getting off the city bus. She was wearing the same yellow sundress so she was easy to spot among all the students clad in uniform.

Ichigo immediately stood up and grabbed his bag, intending to leave.

"Orihime!" Tatsuki yelled from the railing, waving frantically at her new best friend. Being neighbors with Ichigo, since Orihime had moved into the Kurosaki household Tatsuki and Orihime saw a lot of each other.

"Hi Tatsuki-chan!" Orihime exclaimed, waving just as fervently.

Rukia stood besides Tatsuki at the railing. "Aren't you going to come up and say hi to everyone? We still have 20 minutes left of lunch." Rukia yelled down to Orihime.

"No, we're in a hurry." Ichigo replied moodily, his mood soured by the fact that he would have to go see Aizen and pretend that he didn't know what a scumbag he was.

Despite Ichigo's statement, Orihime had already ran into the school and was on her way to the roof to reunite with her friends.

IV.

After enjoying lunch with Tatsuki, Rukia, Renji, Ishida, Chad, Mizuiro, and Keigo, the red headed pair finally headed to downtown Karakura to meet with Aizen.

Ichigo was obviously tense. He shifted uncomfortably in the plush chair facing Aizen's desk for the thousandth time as they waited for the pageant owner to finally show up. Ichigo glanced at his watch. 1:03. Aizen was officially late. He began to tap his foot impatiently. He stilled when his girlfriend placed a comforting hand on his leg.

"Are you alright?" She asked softly.

He grunted an affirmative.

Two pairs of eyes turned to the door as Aizen stepped into the room. "Inoue Orihime. Good to see you again." Aizen looked at Ichigo curiously. "And you are?"

Ichigo glared defiantly before finally answering, "Kurosaki Ichigo. Orhime's boyfriend."

Aizen frowned. "I see. Well, Orihime and I have some important things to discuss that do not pertain to you so….."

"I'm staying." Ichigo interrupted, his tone indicating there was no room for negotiation.

Aizen took his seat. "Fine." He quickly turned to face Orihime, ignoring Ichigo completely. "As I'm sure you're aware, the Miss Teen Japan competition is only 6 days away. And you need to be in Tokyo in 3 days for a weekend full of pageant preparations. It has come to my attention that you don't really care about pageants, and now without your mother's influence I'm worried you don't care at all about Miss Teen Japan."

Orihime fidgeted uncomfortably.

Aizen continued. "But you need to remember that you are under contract. You have to compete in Miss Teen Japan. And you need to compete to win. If you try to throw the pageant, I'll know. And that would be a violation of your contract. And as much as I would hate for you to be in any sort of legal trouble which of course could jeopardize your emancipation proceedings, rules are rules." Aizen threatened.

"Of course, you could always just take me up on my modeling offer and I might be willing to completely forget this whole Miss Teen Japan thing. Think about it. You would clearly have more freedom as a model than as Miss Teen Japan." Aizen laid out his ultimatum and Orihime didn't know what to do.

"She'll compete. At least that way she'll be far away from you when she wins." Ichigo stated.

"But you forget Kurosaki, Miss Teen Japan will also take her far away from you." Aizen said with a malicious smirk.

V.

Ichigo couldn't sleep. Orihime had fallen asleep hours ago and was softly snoring beside him. Tomorrow, she left for Tokyo. Finals were coming up so he couldn't go with her, no matter how much he wanted to. For once, his father decided to make himself useful and accompany Orihime to the pageant. As her unofficial new foster father, he was going to deal with Orihime's mother if she decided to show up at the pageant.

Aizen's words haunted him. Miss Teen Japan would take her away from him. With the strain Miss Teen Karakura had put on their relationship, Miss Teen Japan could completely tear them apart. She could do better. She deserved better than he would ever be able to give her. She was so beautiful, and nice, and smart. Millions of guys would kill for a chance to be with her. With all the exposure she would get through Miss Teen Japan, all kind of guys would pursue her.

He considered himself a good boyfriend, but he couldn't deny that he was somewhat possessive and jealous, although he would like to consider it being overprotective. He rolled from his back to his side so he could face her. He didn't want to mess this up, but if she won everything would change.

VI.

"Kurosaki-san look! There are dolphins!" Orihime squealed happily as she stared out her window as the two drove back to Karakura from Tokyo.

Isshin smiled to himself. She seemed pretty happy for someone who had just come in 1st runner up at Miss Teen Japan. She had looked stunning, interviewed well, and performed her talent beautifully, but in the end the judges could tell she didn't truly want it as much as the other girls.

Isshin's smile widened as he watched his son's girlfriend gaze at the dolphins. The loss was probably for the best. She seemed happy with the Kurosakis, and they were all happy to welcome her into the family. If she had won and moved to Tokyo, everyone would have been upset.

"How many times have I told you Orihime? You can call me Daddy! Or at least Isshin. And no need for an honorific! We're family!"

Isshin was unable to break Orihime's habit of adding –san to his name, but they did manage to strengthen their already good relationship during the three hour car ride.

Finally they pulled into the driveway of the Kurosaki house. Orihime happily hopped out of the car and ran to the front door, completing forgetting her suitcases in the trunk of the car. Pulling out her house key, which she had been given a few days before, she quickly opened the door.

It was dark inside the house, and quiet. Orihime left her key on the end table and searched for Ichigo, Karin, and Yuzu. "Hello?" She called into the dark. She walked into the living room when suddenly the lights switched on.

"Welcome home!" Chorused all of Orihime's friends. Orihime immediately teared up as she took in the scene.

Ichigo, Karin, Yuzu, Tatsuki, Rukia, Renji, Ishida, Nemu, Nel, Keigo, Chad, Mizuiro, Chizuru, and Michiru had all congregated in the living room to welcome her back to Karakura. They had all watched the pageant live hours before and were rooting for Orihime, but truthfully they had all been happy she hadn't won. Now, she was free to stay in Karakura with all her friends.

Orihime had to fight back tears as each of her friends hugged her and told her how happy they were she was back. Ichigo approached her last. "Are you upset?" He felt the need to ask. He knew how many opportunities Miss Teen Japan could have created for her.

She wrapped her arms around him and rested her cheek against his chest before responding. "I'm honestly not upset at all. I'm ready to leave the pageant world forever. I just want to be normal. I'm going to get a job, and enroll in school…" she paused and pulled away slightly to look up at him before she told him what she was most looking forward to in her new life. "And stay here with you." She whispered while beaming at him.

He wanted to kiss her, but they had an audience so he settled for a warm hug.

"Alright, enough love birds. Orihime-chan, I made you your favorite dinner to welcome you back home! With lots of red bean sauce!"

Yuzu and Orihime chattered animatedly as they headed off to the kitchen.

VII.

Ichigo set down the last of Orihime's boxes in her new apartment. He stretched before allowing himself to collapse onto the couch he and Orihime, mostly he, had carried up the stairs.

After three months of living with the Kurosakis, Orihime had found her own place. All the Kurosakis had insisted she didn't have to move out, they had all become accustomed to and would surely miss her presence, but she wanted to be independent.

In order to afford her new apartment, she had picked up a part time job at a bakery in addition to paid Miss Teen Karakura appearances. Making appearances as Miss Teen Karakura had become much more bearable now that Aizen was no longer involved in pageants. With Ichigo's encouragement, Orihime had worked up the courage to tell the authorities about Aizen. No one had believed her at first, or they chose not to believe her, but after meeting with Aizen with a concealed wire, the evidence was indisputable. Because of his powerful connections, Aizen was able to avoid jail but he was not allowed to have any involvement in Miss Teen Karakura. Former pageant queen Matsumoto Rangiku had taken over for Aizen and Orihime and Rangiku had become very close friends in the last three months.

She had also gotten in touch with some of her relatives, although she was still estranged from her mother and soon would be completely emancipated. As it turned out she had several aunts and uncles on her mother's side who were willing to help support Orihime as long as she was in school.

Orihime had enrolled herself at Karakura high school and would start her senior year with Ichigo and all her friends when the semester started next week. She had been pretty far behind but had worked hard all summer to ensure she would be caught up by the time school started.

Ichigo didn't realize he had been dozing off until Orihime pranced into the room, wearing the new Karakura high school uniform that she had been excited to see had been delivered and was waiting outside her door when they arrived with her belongings. He was immediately wide-awake as he admired how well she filled out the uniform.

"Wow." He managed to vocalize after several moments of silence. The last time she had been in the Karakura uniform, it wasn't tailored to fit her. But now in a uniform that hugged her in all the right places, he was practically speechless.

Orihime flushed and self-consciously tried to tug the pleated skirt down. Ichigo immediately stood and took her hands in his to stop her from doing so. "You look amazing. Almost too good considering how many perverts at school are going to try anything to get with you."

Orihime smiled. "Well, I'm sure you'll be quick to let them know that I am taken."

"Damn straight"

Orihime giggled and wrapped her arms around Ichigo's torso. He returned her embrace and rested his chin on top of her head, inhaling the scent of her strawberry shampoo. "I'm going to miss seeing you around the house." He admitted.

"I'll still be around." She comforted.

"I know. But still. I got so used to seeing you all the time."

"I think the distance will be good for us. We are a little young to be living together. Don't you think Ichigo-kun?"

He couldn't really argue that one. But he would still miss her. "It's going to be hard to fall asleep tonight without you being there." He confessed. After three months of sharing a bed, he had become accustomed to her being there.

She blushed before pulling away from him slightly so she could look at him. "You could stay here tonight." She stammered out in a rush. Her blush intensified as he raised an eyebrow and she had to break eye contact with him before continuing. "We'll have the apartment all to ourselves…..and…if you want…..we could…..you know." She braved a quick glance at him as he absorbed her words.

Was she saying what it sounded like she was saying? Although they had been together for quite a few months, they had never gone all the way. Partly because he would never do something like that with his sisters asleep in the next room, but mostly because she was a virgin and he didn't want to push her, or worse scare her away.

"Orihime" He started but she quickly interrupted him.

"I mean…I know you're not a virgin." He blushed, remembering the awkward conversation they had been forced to have after his father had let it slip that Ichigo wasn't innocent. "And it must have been hard for you to wait…"

This time he interrupted her, cupping her chin and forcing her to make eye contact with him. "I'll wait as long as you need me to." He promised.

She smiled at him. "I don't want to wait anymore. I love you. And I want you to be my first."

"You don't have to do this." He told her.

"I want to. I love you." She reassured.

"I love you too. And I want to be your first and _only_." He said before kissing her deeply and then carrying her into the bedroom.

Ichigo was very careful with her, almost as if he was afraid he would break her. She had to repeatedly reassure him that she was okay whenever he stopped at any sign of discomfort from her. But eventually Ichigo increased his pace and soon both teens were panting heavily as Orihime moved her hips in time with his rhythm. Orihime screaming his name, for once without the honorific, brought him to the edge and they climaxed together.

Once they had both come down from their high, Ichigo kissed Orihime's sweaty forehead and held her close. She snuggled into him before drifting off to sleep with a contented smile. He drifted off moments later, his usual scowl absent from his face.

VIII.

-9 years later-

Orihime jumped down from the passenger side of Ichigo's truck and regarded her surroundings. She looked at the hotel curiously. Why were they staying at the Karakura Castle Inn? Orihime silently questioned her on and off again boyfriend of the last ten years with a look as he started to wheel their luggage inside.

"What? I just thought it would be a nice change of pace." He answered her unspoken question.

After settling into their room and spending a few hours at the pool, the pair had showered and dressed up nice for dinner. Orihime was very confused. Was today an important anniversary she had forgotten about? Because of the on and off again nature of their relationship, the couple celebrated several different important dates in their relationship.

After their senior year of high school was their first official break up. Although they were still very happy together, they were going to colleges in completely different countries. Orihime had a full ride scholarship to study news journalism in London while Ichigo planned to work his way through a pre-med education at Tokyo University. Both felt it would be unfair to stay in a committed relationship when they would be so far apart. So they had agreed to stay friends and both dated other people throughout college. But anytime they were back in Karakura at the same time, they would immediately break it off with whomever they were dating at the time so they could resume their relationship guilt free.

The time apart and dating other people made both realize how much they truly loved each other. So when Orihime finished school she moved to Tokyo where Ichigo was starting medical school so they could be together. She had her own apartment, but most of her time was spent in Ichigo's dorm. Ichigo had recently graduated and the pair had decided to move back to Karakura where Ichigo would start his residency. All their friends had also moved back to Karakura after college so both red heads were enjoying being back in their hometown.

Orihime was snapped out of her reminiscing by Ichigo gruffly asking her if she was ready to eat. Ichigo led her to a fancy restaurant on the lobby floor of the hotel. They were quickly seated and both looked over the menu in an awkward silence.

Ichigo was acting very strange. He was very jumpy and fidgeted nervously when he thought she wasn't looking. She gave his hand a comforting squeeze and while this normally would have comforted him, in this instance it seemed as if it had no effect.

His strange behavior continued when he ordered alcohol with his food. Although he was 26, almost 27, and it was perfectly legal for him to drink, he typically avoided alcohol.

He downed several glasses of brandy quickly, and the alcohol seemed to be calming him down although he still seemed pretty nervous. Conversation didn't flow between the two as easily as it normally would have. Orihime gave up trying to start a conversation once Ichigo once again gave her a one word answer and instead glanced around the restaurant. From the restaurant, she could still see the lobby and something about this hotel was familiar. She racked her brain trying to remember when she had been here before.

"Utada! Come back sweetie! Its almost your turn for beauty!" A mother called as she chased her daughter in the lobby.

The little girl who Orihime assumed was Utada giggled and continued to run away from her mother. "Catch me first mommy!" She teased.

Little Miss Karakura. The realization came to Orihime quickly. Ichigo smirked as recognition dawned on her face.

"This is where we first met. 18 years ago. Today." He announced as he reached into his suit pocket for something.

Orihime gasped as Ichigo pulled out a small box and then got down on one knee. If she hadn't had been sitting, she probably would have fallen to the floor in shock. He reached for her hand and he hoped she wouldn't notice how sweaty his palms were.

"Inoue Orihime. You're the best thing that ever happened to me. You're beautiful, and funny, and smart, and the kindest person I've ever met, and I love you more than anything. I want to be your husband. I swear I'll do whatever it takes to protect you and make you happy. Orihime, will you marry me?" He opened the box and presented Orihime with his mother's ring.

Isshin had actually given him the ring 8 years ago and instructed him to give it to Orihime right away, but Ichigo had wanted to wait. He wanted to make sure Orihime was the one for him before proposing. Looking back now, he belatedly realized he has always known Orihime was the one. Ever since she had walked into the auditorium with all the other contestants in the Miss Teen Karakura competition ten years ago.

Orihime couldn't form any words, but she nodded her head vigorously. Ichigo slipped the ring onto her finger. He hadn't gotten it fitted, but it fit perfectly. If he needed another confirmation that this was fate, this would have been it.

Orihime suddenly leaped out of her seat and tackled him in a hug that sent the two to the floor, but neither cared.

"I love you." She finally managed to say through her tears.

"I love you too." He said before kissing her.

**THE END!**

A/N: That's the end! I'll probably add an epilogue, but that will be short. Thank you to everyone that read, reviewed, favorited, and alerted! I'm glad so many people liked this story!

Reviewer Responses:

ranipaki: Thank you! I'm glad you liked it. Maybe Grimmjow or Ulqiuorra will make an appearance in the epilogue. : )

smartkid360: I'm glad you liked the AUness of the story. I was worried the lack of bleach elements like hollows would make it hard to keep people in character, but I'm glad you liked it!

Mosspaw: Yeah, I am a slow updater, but now after two years I have finally managed to finish this story! Thank you for reviewing!

nypsy: You had some really good ideas for Aizen. But I stuck with the simple solution of just getting rid of him. Thank you for your review!

luversblue: Yeah, my summer starts early. Only a few more weeks before you get to enjoy the freedom of summer as well! Thank you for reviewing! Glad you liked it!

Scared of Lonely: Thank you!

Zero Kurosaki: Ayako will be dealt with in the epilogue if I get around to writing it. Thank you for reviewing!

Aya: Thank you so much! Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well!

XBluexFlamingoX: Yep, Orihime finally grew a backbone. : ) Thank you for reviewing!

The0Blind0Writer: Glad you loved the story! Thank you for reviewing


	16. Epilogue

Edited for typos: 5/28

I.

"I hate him." Ichigo stated as he collapsed onto the hotel bed.

Orihime glanced at her husband as she removed her high heels before joining him on the bed, cuddling up to his side.

"He'll grow on you. You didn't like Jinta-kun at first either." Orihime reminded Ichigo.

"I still don't like Jinta."

"Ichigo-" Her husband quickly interrupted whatever she was going to say.

"He's not good enough for her."

Orihime wrapped an arm around her husband, hoping to relieve some of his tension. "There isn't a man on Earth who you will think is good enough for your sister."

"That's not true." Orihime gave him a look. "What? I mean, sure I have high expectations…"

"Impossible expectations." His wife rephrased for him.

"But Hitsugaya is not the right guy for her. He's so uptight. And he's unfriendly. And he's short. And what is with that white hair? It's abnormal. He's 30, not 75."

Orihime poked his side teasingly. "Are you really one to talk about strange hair colors?"

Ichigo glared at her, but his look held no real malice. "This is serious. Karin is making a big mistake."

"You said the same thing about Yuzu-chan. And Jinta-kun and her have been happily married for three years and have a beautiful baby boy."

Ichigo rolled over so he could face his wife. "They haven't been together long enough to get married."

"They've been together for two years."

"Two years is nothing. Why can't she wait? Did you see the way he was acting at the wedding rehearsal? He didn't look excited at all. I honestly don't think he wants to marry her."

"Ichigo, you are being ridiculous. Toshiro-kun is obviously just nervous. He's getting married tomorrow!"

"I don't support this. I'm not going to the rehearsal dinner tonight. And I'm not going to the wedding tomorrow. I'm going to call Karin, I'm going to tell her exactly what I think of her fiancée, and then you, me, and the kids are going back to Karakura." Ichigo insisted.

Orihime smiled at Ichigo before leaning in for a sweet kiss. Before Ichigo could deepen the kiss, she pulled away. "We're going to the wedding. And 2 hours from now we will both be eating dinner with your family celebrating Karin's upcoming marriage." Orihime insisted.

"No we won't."

"Yes we will."

"Want to bet?"

II.

"Daddy, why do you look so mad?"

Ichigo glanced over at his 3 year old daughter who was sitting beside him at the table, Misaki. Misaki and her identical twin, Natsuki, names inspired respectively by Ichigo's late mother Masaki and Orihime's best friend Tatsuki, looked just like their mother. The big grey doe eyes, the fair skin, and the constant smiles had all been inherited from Orihime. The only feature he had passed on to his daughters was his shockingly orange hair, which had mixed with Orihime's auburn to create strawberry blonde in their daughters.

His son's baby coos turned Ichigo's attention from his daughters to his 11 month old son, Sora, who was currently being held by Isshin. As soon as Orihime had found out she was having a boy, she had wanted to name him after her late brother. Ichigo, of course, had agreed.

Sora had black hair, like his aunt Karin and grandfather Isshin, and Ichigo's brown eyes.

Ichigo finally turned back to Misaki. "I'm not mad honey. Just thinking."

"Thinking about what?" Yuzu asked as she adjusted her own two year old son, Jun, who was the spitting image of his father Jinta, on her lap.

"Thinking about why Karin and Hitsugaya are late. We all came all the way out to Tokyo for their wedding, just because _his _family lives out here, and they can't even show up on time for dinner? I had better things to do today. There was a groundbreaking surgery at the hospital today, but was I there? No, I was at a wedding rehearsal that lasted from 9 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon." Ichigo griped.

Isshin laughed loudly and bounced Sora on his knee. "Since when are you so serious about work, boy? You think we all don't know how often you come to work late, leave early, and some times don't show up at all? Now, with a wife as beautiful as Orihime-chan, I understand that sometimes it must be a real chore to leave the bedroom and-" Isshin shut up when a bread roll was thrown expertly at his head from across the table.

"Shut up!" Ichigo tried to fight down his blush. After five years of marriage, his father could still embarrass him and Orihime the same way he could when they were just dating.

Luckily before a fight could break out, Karin and Toshiro arrived with Toshiro's family and the wedding party could finally order dinner.

III.

"Mommy!" Natsuki whined, pulling on the sleeve of her mother's dress.

Orihime, who had been having a conversation with Toshiro's cousin, looked at her daughter. "What sweetie?"

"I have to pee!" The little girl exclaimed, squirming uncomfortably as she tried to hold it in.

Misaki, who had been listening in, suddenly chirped in. "I have to go too Mommy!"

Orihime excused herself from the table and with a daughter's hand in each of her own she led the girls to the bathroom.

Since this was a very upscale Tokyo restaurant, Orihime was not surprised to see that the bathroom was also very upscale. The restroom was carpeted, lit by chandelier, was equipped with speakers playing classical music, and even had a bathroom attendant.

Misaki and Natsuki released their mother's hands and ran off in search of a bathroom stall. Orihime walked over to the sink to freshen up. The former beauty queen gently tousled her hair, reapplied her lipstick, and was applying a fresh coat of blush when a hauntingly familiar voice interrupted her beauty ritual.

"For someone no longer involved in beauty pageants, you sure seem to care a lot about your appearance."

Orihime turned to face the bathroom attendant. "Mom?" She asked weakly.

Ayako smirked maliciously. "Long time no see daughter dear." She sized Orihime up from head to toe and frowned. "I see you're doing well." Ayako stated, clearly disappointed Orihime had made a life for herself.

Orihime briefly looked at herself in the mirror. She and Ichigo were doing well, and her appearance was a testament to this fact. Ichigo was quickly becoming a well known and respected surgeon in Karakura. And Orihime had recently quit her job as a production assistant at Good Morning Karakura and was now pursuing her dream of writing. Kurosaki Orihime currently wrote a column for a popular Japanese parenting magazine.

Because of their success, Ichigo enjoyed showering his wife with gifts and shopping was one of Orihime's favorite pastimes. At the moment, she was wearing diamond earrings, a 1st anniversary gift, an expensive ruby red dress she had fallen in love with while vacationing with Rukia in Singapore, and she was currently carrying her favorite designer purse.

Orihime fidgeted uncomfortably as her estranged mother scrutinized her lifestyle. "You must be getting a real kick out of this. Here you are, married, wealthy, successful. And me, a goddamn bathroom attendant." Ayako commented angrily, staring with hate at her unflattering red and black bathroom attendant uniform.

Orihime had no idea what she should say in response so she remained silent. This conversation was so awful. Admittedly, Orihime sometimes did think of her mother. After becoming a mother herself, she would spend hours staring at the sweet innocent faces of Misaki and Natsuki. Orihime had determined that was impossible for a mother to not love her own child. Which is why her lack of a relationship with her own mother was so confusing to her.

Sometimes, she wondered if her mother had changed. Maybe completely losing her daughter had made Ayako reflect on the way she treated her. Maybe her mom was sorry, and maybe if they were reunited they could finally have a decent relationship. Her children could have a relationship with their grandmother….

But looking at her mother now, she realized nothing had changed. Ayako had changed physically. Now in her early sixties, her auburn hair had started to fade to grey and she was starting to get wrinkles. She looked feeble, and for once Orihime did not fear any physical attacks. But she was still extremely terrified of the kind of mental abuse she was sure her mother could inflict.

Natsuki tugged at her mother's dress to get her attention. "Mommy, I can't reach the sink."

Orihime knelt and wraped her arms around Natsuki's waist before lifting her daughter to the sink. She awkwardly tried to turn on the faucet while holding Natsuki.

"Oh, allow me ma'am. It is my job, after all." Ayako said in a fake sweet tone before pulling out a stepladder for Natsuki.

"She's beautiful." Ayako said as she admired her granddaughter.

Orihime immediately stepped protectively in front of her daughter. "Yes, she is. And more importantly, she's happy." Orihime informed her mother, hoping to end the conversation.

"Natsuki! Your hands are clean, it's my turn to use the stool!"

When Natsuki ignored her twin, Misaki angrily stomped her foot. "Mommy! It's my turn!" The 3 year old was about to throw a temper tantrum.

Ayako's eyes lit up. "Twins?" She questioned her daughter.

Orihime eyed Ayako wearily. _'What is she up to now?'_

Natsuki and Misaki looked at the stranger in confusion. There was obvious tension between the stranger and their mother and the toddlers had no idea why.

"Twins would be huge on the pageant circuit." Ayako seemed to be talking more to herself than to her long lost relatives.

"No." Orihime immediately responded.

"They would compete in the same age group, competition between twins would obviously encourage both to compete at their absolute best since they would be looking for approval. Pit them against each other." Ayako said thoughfully.

"I said no." Orihime insisted, more force in her voice this time.

"Best of all, they could trade off titles. One could win one year, and the next year the other twin could compete and take the title from her twin. Its genius." Ayako suddenly knelt so she was eye level to the girls.

"How would you two like to win prizes like toys and puppies?" Ayako asked the girls in an excited tone. Both girls looked wide-eyed at each other before nodding vigorously. "Well, you girls should compete in a beauty pageant! I could be your pageant coach, and all you girls have to do is dress up in pretty dresses and …"

"Ayako, shut up!" Orihime interrupted, angry tears welling up in her eyes. "If you love pageants so much compete yourself! There must be a senior circuit…"

Ayako scoffed. "Are you kidding? The senior circuit is a joke."

"I don't care! My daughters are never going to be involved in beauty pageants and more importantly you'll never be involved in their lives! " With that said, Orihime firmly grabbed both her daughters' hands and hurried from the bathroom.

Both twins looked at their mother with concern as the frazzled former beauty queen hurried back to their table.

"Mommy, are you okay?" Misaki asked softly.

Orihime forced a smile on her face. "I'm fine, everything is fine."

"Mommy, who was that?" Natsuki asked.

"It doesn't matter baby. Hopefully we won't be hearing from her ever again.

IV.

"So Ichigo, Karin says you're a soccer player." Toshiro's friend Kenpachi said as he sipped on his wine.

Ichigo stopped rocking his chair back and forth and glanced disinterestedly at Kenpachi. "Yeah, lately I've been busy with work but I play on a recreational league when I can." Ichigo replied.

"Are you any good?" Kenpachi pressed.

Ichigo scowled. "I would like to think so."

"I play soccer too. Maybe we could play one-on-one some time. It could be a fun little battle." Kenpachi challenged.

"Yeah, maybe." Ichigo replied, although he had no intention of following through with this challenge.

Ichigo immediately stood from the table, ignoring the startled reactions from those sitting next to him, and hurried over to Orihime when he saw her turn the corner and approach the table.

After so many years together, he could almost feel when she was upset without even seeing her. But with her red eyes and a rare frown on her beautiful face, he immediately knew she was upset.

"What happened?" He questioned immediately upon reaching her.

"There was a lady in the bathroom who made Mommy cry." Natsuki answered while squeezing her mother's hand comfortingly.

"Girls, why don't you go eat your dinner." Orihime suggested and both girls nodded before returning to the table.

Ichigo watched the girls return to the table and as soon as they were out of earshot, Ichigo turned back to his wife. "What happened?" He repeated.

Orihime sighed and wrung her hands nervously, knowing what she was about to tell Ichigo was just going to upset him. As if he wasn't upset enough already about his little sister getting married. "My mother works here. I ran into her in the bathroom." Orihime said, looking at her husband worriedly.

His eyes quickly darkened with rage. "Ayako's here?"

Orihime nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

Ichigo grabbed his wife's hand and headed for the bathroom.

"Ichigo, don't. I've already handled it so now we can just put it behind us…." Orihime started to plead but Ichigo interrupted her.

"I have a lot of choice words for your mother." He grumbled.

Ichigo barged into the women's restroom with no consideration for the fact that he really shouldn't be in there and stormed over to Ayako, who remained at her place at the sink.

Ayako rolled her eyes when she saw Ichigo coming. Although she had noticed Orihime's ring earlier, she know realized the orange haired pair wore matching wedding rings. "You actually married him? Who saw that one coming?"

"Maybe if you paid attention to any aspect of Orihime's life besides pageants you would have seen it coming." Ichigo retorted.

"Wow Orihime. After all these years you still can't fight your own battles? Need your husband to come in here and protect you? Pathetic." Ayako criticized, enjoying watching Orihime deflate with each biting word.

"Don't talk to her like that." Ichigo ordered, glaring at Ayako with hate that had built up over the years.

"Can't she speak for herself?" Ayako sneered.

"Yeah, she can. But first, I have something to say to you." Ichigo took a moment to collect himself and wrapped an arm around Orihime's waist before continuing. "You are a sorry excuse for a mother. No mother should ever think of herself before her child. But that was all you ever did. You're incredibly selfish. You want to know why Orihime was so much more successful in beauty pageants than you were? It's because your inner ugliness comes through. You have no idea how much I hate you for what you put Orihime through."

Orihime tried to choke back her sob at all the old emotions that were being brought back by Ichigo's speech. Her husband rubbed her back comfortingly before continuing, this time facing his wife instead of Ayako

"But despite having you as a mother, Orihime is amazing. She's beautiful inside and out. She's an incredible mother, a wonderful wife, and she lights up any room she enters. She's nothing like you Ayako, which you should consider your greatest accomplishment."

Orihime's eyes welled up with tears at her husband's praise. He smiled and reached up to gently brush away a tear.

Ayako scoffed loudly. "So did you just come in here to tell me how horrible you think I am?"

Orihime turned toward Ayako. "No. We also came in here to tell you to stay away from our family. I'm actually glad I got to see you again. Before, I felt like I didn't have any closure. Everything happened so suddenly I found myself wondering if we couldn't have worked it out. But now, I know you're not going to change and I'm better off without you. You're not going to have a relationship with your grandchildren because you wouldn't be a good grandmother, just like you weren't a good mother."

"And you think you're a good daughter? Here you are, doing well, but you never thought to check in on how your mom was doing. Things have been rough for me these past 15 years, but I don't see you offering to help me." Ayako complained, glaring at the happy couple.

"You're not a mom Ayako. Anyone can be a biological mother, but a mom wants the best for their child and is willing to sacrifice everything in order to ensure their child's happiness. You always wanted me to sacrifice to make you happy, and I'm not sacrificing anything else for you." Orihime explained.

"I think we're done here." Orihime said to her husband. Ichigo nodded and led Orihime out of the bathroom, neither of them glancing back at Ayako.

V.

Ichigo sighed happily as he relaxed in the hot tub. He had paid extra for a room with a hot tub and he was going to be damned if he left Tokyo without using it once. He poured himself a glass of champagne, the bottle conveniently located in a cooler beside the hot tub, as he waited for Orihime to join him. He closed his eyes as he enjoyed the sensation of the hot tub's water jets hitting his back.

He reopened his eyes when he heard Orihime getting into the hot tub. He admired his wife's incredible body in her red bikini as she gingerly lowered herself into the hot water. She did not look like she had been through two pregnancies, it was amazing how quickly her body bounced back after childbirth.

He smirked when he realized she was also checking him out, admiring his lean muscles and six-pack. The pair drank champagne and lapsed into a comfortable silence for a few moments.

Orihime had been sitting on the other side of the hot tub facing her husband, but now she moved so she was sitting beside him. He wrapped an arm around her waist and she rested her head on his shoulder.

"The wedding was absolutely beautiful." Orihime commented.

"Yeah, it was. Karin was a beautiful bride. Although it was weird to see her in a dress."

"Do you remember our wedding Ichigo-kun?"

He looked at her incredulously. "It was only five years ago. And it was our _wedding. _Of course I remember."

Ichigo and Orihime had gotten married in the same Karakura temple where Isshin and Masaki had married. Neither of them were particularly religious, but they had had a traditional Buddhist ceremony. The temple was filled with all their family and friends, excluding Ayako, and Orihime was the most beautiful bride Ichigo had ever seen.

Ichigo smirked as he glanced down at his wife. "Do you remember our wedding night?" He asked in a sultry tone.

Orihime blushed fiercely and Ichigo couldn't stifle his laughter.

He gently repositioned Orihime so she was straddling his lap, facing him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him. She rested her hands, which were beginning to prune from the water, on his chest.

"Have you ever had sex in a hot tub?" He whispered in her ear before kissing a trail down her neck.

Orihime's blush intensified, she was now red from head to toe, but she did manage to answer Ichigo's question with a shake of her head.

He untied her bikini top and allowed it to float away before kissing her deeply.

VI.

Ichigo yawned sleepily as he continued the three hour drive from Tokyo to Karakura. He glanced in the rearview mirror and saw that both Natsuki and Misaki were sleeping peacefully in their booster seats. Beside him in the passenger seat, Orihime was also napping. But it was understandable that she was tired. They had both been up very late last night.

He smiled at her sleeping form, memories of last night flooding his mind.

"Well buddy, I guess it's just you and me." Ichigo directed at Sora, sitting beside his sister Natsuki in a baby car seat.

Sora smiled happily and kicked his feet merrily in response. Ichigo smiled at his only son before refocusing on the road.

Finally, the family made it home to Karakura. Ichigo gently shook his wife awake so she could help him get the sleepy kids to their rooms. Ichigo lifted Misaki with his right arm and Natsuki with his left, leaving Orihime to carry the only child awake, Sora.

Orihime kissed Sora's forehead and adjusted him in her arms as she headed up the stairs. "You are getting so big! One day, you'll be tall and strong like your father!"

Sora clapped his hands happily at his mother's excited tone, causing Orihime to laugh gleefully.

It seemed like the long car ride had tired him out, because as soon as Orihime placed Sora in his crib, he immediately fell asleep. Orihime leaned against the crib bars and smiled at her sleeping son, gently brushing some of his dark hair away from his face.

She was startled when a strong pair of arms wrapped around her waist from behind, but she quickly relaxed and leaned back into Ichigo's embrace.

"Can you believe how big he is getting? I can't believe Sora is almost one!"

Ichigo kissed the top of her head. "You're not going to start crying about your baby being all grown up, are you?" He teased.

"But he is all grown up! He'll be walking any day now and then he won't even need me anymore."

Ichigo laughed. "You are ridiculous."

Orihime managed to turn around in Ichigo's arms although he didn't loosen his grip. She wrapped her arms around his neck before staring deep into her husband's eyes. "I want another baby."

"Did Dad put you up to this? He seriously would not shut up about his plan for a dozen grandchildren during the reception."

Orihime smiled. "I'm sure he'll be happy about it, but this is what I want."

Ichigo smirked. "I think you just want to have sex with me."

Orihime blushed and Ichigo couldn't help but grin at the fact that after all this time she was still so shy.

"I'm serious Ichigo."

He contemplated her for a few moments. "We should wait until Sora is 2."

"How about 15 months?" Orihime negotiated.

"20 months" Ichigo renegotiated.

"17."

Ichigo smiled and kissed his wife. "Deal."

_THE END_

I had all these big plans to keep this epilogue short, but I didn't want to stop writing! I'm so sad this story is over! Thank you guys for all the hits, favorites, and reviews!


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